THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


PRESENTED  BY 

Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Roland  McClameroch,   Jr. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00021050318 


This  book  is  due  at  the  WALTER  R.  DAVIS  LIBRARY  on 
the  last  date  stamped  under  "Date  Due."  If  not  on  hold,  it  may 
be  renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library. 

°^[|                       RETURNED 

^jJJ|                      RETURNED 

JIJj 

i  2  9  ZG10 

Form  No  513, 
Rev.  1/84 

J  A  C  K      TIER 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/jacktierorfloridOOcoop 


>S3 

JACK    TIE71-  ,m 


OR, 


THE      FLORIDA      REEF. 


J.    FEN IM ORE     COOPER, 


"  Ay,  now  I  am  in  Arden ;  the  more  fool 
I ;  when  I  was  at  home  I  was  in  a  better  place ;  but 
Travellers  must  be  content." 

As  Totr  Like  It. 


NEW   YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND     COMPANY, 

5  4  9    &    5  5  1     B  ROADWAY. 

1877. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1SJ0,  by 

W.  A.   TOWNSEND  AND   COMPANY, 

In  the-  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York 


PREFACE. 


Tins  work  has  already  appeared  in  Graham's  Mag- 
azine, under  the  title  of  "  Rose  Bndd."  The  change 
of  name  is  solely  the  act  of  the  anther,  and  arises 
from  a  conviction  that  the  appellation  given  in  this 
publication  is  more  appropriate  than  the  one  laid 
aside.  The  necessity  of  writing  to  a  name,  instead 
of.  getting  it  from  the  incidents  of  the  book  itself, 
has  been  the  cause  of  this  departure  from  the  ordinary 
rules. 

When  this  book  was  commenced,  it  was  generally 
supposed  that  the  Mexican  war  would  end  after  a  few 
months  of  hostilities.  Such  was  never  the  opinion  of 
the  writer.  He  has  ever  looked  forward  to  a  pro- 
tracted struggle;  and,  now  that  Congress  has  begun 
to  interfere,  sees  as  little  probability  of  its  termination, 
as  on  the  day  it  commenced.  Whence  honorable  gen- 
tlemen have  derived  their  notions  of  the  constitution, 
when  they  advance  the  doctrine  that  Congress  is  an 
American  Aulic  council,  empowered  to  encumber  the 


movements  of  armies,  and,  as  old  Blucher  expressed 
it  in  reference  to  the  diplomacy  of  Europe,  "  to  spoil 
with  the  pen  the  work  achieved  by  the  sword,"  it  is 
difficult  to  say  more  than  this,  that  they  do  not  gel 
them  from  the  constitution  itself.  It  has  generally 
been  supposed  that  the  present  executive  was  created 
in  order  to  avoid  the  very  evils  of  a  distracted  and 
divided  council,  which  this  new  construction  has  a 
direct  tendency  to  revive.  But  a  presidential  election 
has  ever  proved,  and  probably  will  ever  prove, 
stronger  than  any  written  fundamental  law. 

"We  have  had  occasion  to  refer  often  to  Mexico  in 
these  pages.  It  has  been  our  aim  to  do  so  in  a  kind 
spirit ;  for,  while  we  have  never  doubted  that  the  fac- 
tions which  have  possessed  themselves  of  the  govern- 
ment in  that  country  have  done  us  great  wrong,  wrong 
that  would  have  justified  a  much  earlier  appeal  to 
arms,  we  have  always  regarded  the  class  of  Mexicans 
who  alone  can  properly  be  termed  the  "people,"  as 
mild,  amiable,  and  disposed  to  be  on  friendly  terms 
with  us.  Providence,  however,  directs  all  to  the  com- 
pletion of  its  own  wise  ends.  If  the  crust  which  has 
so  long  encircled  that  nation,  inclosing  it  in  bigotry 
and  ignorance,  shall  now  be  irretrievably  broken, 
letting  in  light,  even  Mexico  herself  may  have  cause 
hereafter  to  rejoice  in  her  present  disasters.  It  was  in 
this  way  that  Italy  has  been,  in  a  manner,  regenerated ; 
the  concpiests  of  the  French  carrying  in  their  train  the 
means  and  agencies  which  have,  at  length,  aroused 
that  glorious  portion  of  the  earth  to  some  of  its  ancient 
spirit.  Mexico,  in  certain  senses,  is  the  Italy  of  this 
continent ;  and  war,  however  ruthless  and  much  to  be 


deploredj  may  yet  confer  on  her  the  inestimable  bless- 
ing's of  real  liberty,  and  a  religion  released  from 
ufeux  d' artifice"  as  well  as  all  other  artifices. 

A  word  on  the  facts  of  our  legend.  The  attentive 
observer  of  men  and  things  has  many  occasions  to 
note  the  manner  in  which  ordinary  lookers-on  deceive 
themselves,  as  well  as  others.  The  species  of  treason 
portrayed  in  these  pages  is  no  uncommon  occurrence  ; 
and  it  will  often  be  found  that  the  traitor  is  the  loudest 
in  his  protestations  of  patriotism.  It  is  a  pretty  safe 
rule  to  suspect  the  man  of  hypocrisy  who  makes  a 
parade  of  his  religion,  and  the  partisan  of  corruption 
and  selfishness,  who  is  clamorous  about  the  rights  of 
the  people.  Captain  Spike  was  altogether  above  the 
first  vice ;  though  fairly  on  a  level,  as  respects  the 
second,  with  divers  patriots  who  live  by  their  deity. 


JACK    TIER. 


CHAPTER   I. 


Pros.    Why,  that's  my  spirit! 

But  was  not.  this  nij.rh  shore? 
A  riel.   Close  by,  my  master. 
Pros.    But  are  they,  Ariel,  safo  ? 
Ariel.  Not  a  hair  perished. 

Tempest. 


"  D'ye  hear  there,  Mr.  Mulford  ?"  called  out  Captain  Stephen 
Spike,  of  the  half-rigged,  brigantine  Swash,  or  Molly  Swash,  as 
was  her  registered  name,  to  his  mate.  "  We  shall  be  dropping 
out  as  soon  as  the  tide  makes,  and  I  intend  to  get  through  the 
Gate,  at  least,  on  the  next  flood.  Waiting  for  a  wind  in  port  is 
lubberly  seamanship,  for  he  that  wants  one  should  go  outside 
and  look  for  it." 

This  call  was  uttered  from  a  wharf  of  the  renowned  city  ot 
Manhattan,  to  one  who  was  in  the  trunk-cabin  of  a  clipper- 
looking  craft,  of  the  name  mentioned,  and  on  the  deck  of  which 
not  a  soul  was  visible.  Nor  was  the  wharf,  though  one  of  those 
wooden  piers  that  line  the  arm  of  the  sea  that  is  called  the  East 
River,  such  a  spot  as  ordinarily  presents  itself  to  the  mind  of 
the  reader,  or  listener,  when  an  allusion  is  made  to  a  wharf  of 
that  town  which  it  is  the  fashion  of  the  times  to  call  the 
Commercial  Emporium  of  America — as  if  there  might  veiy 
well  be  an  emporium  of  any  other  character.  The  wharf  in 
question  had  not  a  single  vessel  of  any  sort  lying  at,  or  indeed 
near  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  Molly  Swash.  As  it  actually 
stood  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  town,  it  is  scarcely  necessaiy 


10  JACK     TIER. 

to  say  that  su'cli  a  wharf  could  only  be  found  high  up,  and  at 
a  considerable  distance  from  the  usual  haunts  of  commerce. 
The  brig  lay  more  than  a  mile  above  the  Hook  (Corker's,  of 
course,  is  meant — not  Sandy  Hook),  and  quite  near  to  the  old 
Almshouse — far  above  the  shipyards,  in  fact.  It  was  a  soli- 
tary place  for  a  vessel,  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd.  The  grum 
top-chain  voice  of  Captain  Spike  had  nothing  there  to  mingle 
with,  or  interrupt  its  harsh  tones,  and  it  instantly  brought  on 
deck  Harry  Mulford,  the  mate  in  question,  apparently  eager  to 
receive  his  orders. 

"  Did  you  hail,  Captain  Spike  V '  called  out  the  mate,  a  tight, 
well-grown,  straight-built,  handsome  sailor-lad,  of  two  or  three- 
and-twenty — one  full  of  health,  strength,  and  manliness. 

"  Hail !  If  you  call  straining  a  man's  throat  until  he's 
hoarse,  hailing,  I  believe  I  did.  I  flatter  myself  there  is  not  a 
man  north  of  Hatteras  that  can  make  himself  heard  further  in  a 
gale  of  wind  than  a  certain  gentleman  who  is  to  be  found  within 
a  foot  of  the  spot  where  I  stand.  Yet,  sir,  I've  been  hailing  the 
Swash  these  five  minutes,  and  thankful  am  I  to  find  some  one 
at  last  who  is  on  board  to  answer  me." 

"  What  are  your  orders,  Captain  Spike  ?" 

"  To  see  all  clear  for  a  start  as  soon  as  the  flood  makes.  I 
shall  go  through  the  Gate  on  the  next  young  flood,  and  I  hope 
you'll  have  all  the  hands  aboard  in  time.  I  see  two  or  three  of 
them  up  at  that  Dutch  beer-house,  this  moment,  and  can  tell 
'em,  in  plain  language,  if  they  come  here  with  their  beer  aboard 
them,  they'll  have  to  go  ashore  again." 

"  You  have  an  uncommon]}''  sober  crew,  Captain  Spike,"  an- 
swered the  young  man,  with  great  calmness.  "  During  the 
whole  time  I  have  been  with  them,  I  have  not  seen  a  man 
among  them  the  least  in  the  wind." 

"  Well,  I  hope  it  will  turn  out  that  I've  an  uncommonly 
sober  mate  in  the  bargain.  Drunkenness  I  abominate,  Mr. 
Mulford,  and  I  can  tell  yon,  short  metre,  that  I  will  not 
stand  it." 


JACK     TIER.  11 

"  May  I  inquire  if  you  ever  saw  me,  the  least- in  the  world, 
under  the  influence  of  liquor,  Captain  Spike  V '  demanded  the 
mate,  rather  than  asked,  with  a  very  fixed  meaning  in  his 
manner. 

"  I  keep  no  log-hook  of  trifles,  Mr.  Mulford,  and  cannot  say. 
No  man  is  the  worse  for  bowsing  out  his  jib  when  off  duty, 
though  a  drunkard's  a  thing  I  despise.  Well,  well — remember, 
sir,  that  the  Molly  Swash  casts  off  on  the  young  flood,  and  thai 
Rose  Budd  and  the  good  lady,  her  aunt,  take  passage  in  her, 
this  v'y'ge." 

"  Is  it  possible  that  you  have  persuaded  them  into  that,  at 
last  ?"  exclaimed  the  handsome  mate. 

"  Persuaded  !  It  takes  no  great  persuasion,  sir,  to  get  the  la- 
dies to  try  their  luck  in  that  brig.  Lady  Washington  herself,  ii 
she  was  alive  and  disposed  to  a  sea-v'y'ge,  might  be  glad  of  the 
chance.  We've  a  ladies'  cabin,  you  know,  and  it's  suitable  that 
it  should  have  some  one  to  occupy  it.  Old  Mrs.  Budd  is  a  sen- 
sible woman,  and  takes  time  by  the  forelock.  Rose  is  ailin' — 
pulmonary  they  call  it,  I  believe,  and  her  aunt  wishes  to  try  the 
sea  for  her  constitution — " 

"  Rose  Budd  has  no  more  of  a  pulmonary  constitution  than  I 
have  myself,"  interrupted  the  mate. 

"  Well,  that's  as  people  fancy.  You  must  know,  Mr.  Mulford, 
the)  've  got  all  sorts  of  diseases  now-a-days,  and  all  sorts  of  cures 
for  'em.  One  sort  of  a  cure  for  consumption  is  what  they  tarm 
the  Hyder-Ally— " 

"  I  think  you  must  mean  hydropathy,  sir — " 

"  Well,  it's  something  of  the  sort,  no  matter  what ;  but  cold 
water  is  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and  they  do  say  it's  a  good  remedy. 
Now,  Rose's  aunt  thinks  if  cold  water  is  wThat  is  wanted,  there 
is  no  place  where  it  can  be  so  plenty  as  out  on  the  ocean.  Sea- 
air  is  gcod,  too,  and  by  taking  a  v'y'ge  her  niece  will  get  both 
requisites  together,  and  cheap." 

"  Does  Rose  Budd  think  herself  consumptive,  Captain  Spike  ?" 
asked  Mulford,  with  interest. 


12  JACK     TIE  Ii. 

"  Not  she — you  know  it  will  never  do  to  alarm  a  pulmonary, 
so  Mrs.  Budd  has  held  her  tongue  carefully  on  the  subject  before 
the  young  woman.  Rose  fancies  that  her  aunt  is  out  of  sorts, 
and  that  the  v'y'ge  is  tried  on  her  account ;  but  the  aunt,  the 
cunning  thing,  knows  all  about  it." 

Mulford  almost  nauseated  the  expression  of  his  commander's 
countenance  while  Spike  uttered  the  last  words.  At  no  time 
was  that  countenance  very  inviting,  the  features  being  coarse 
and  vulgar,  while  the  color  of  the  entire  face  was  of  an  ambigu- 
ous red,  in  which  liquor  and  the  seasons  would  seem  to  be 
blended  in  very  equal  quantities.  Such  a  countenance,  lighted 
up  by  a  gleam  of  successful  management,  not  to  say  with  hopes 
and  wishes  that  it  will  hardly  do  to  dwell  on,  could  not  but  be  re- 
volting to  a  youth  of  Harry  Mulford's  generous  feelings,  and 
most  of  all  to  one  who  entertained  the  sentiments  which  he  was 
quite  conscious  of  entertaining  for  Rose  Budd.  The  young  man 
made  no  reply,  but  turned  his  face  towards  the  water,  in  order 
to  conceal  the  expression  of  disgust  that  he  was  sensible  must 
be  strongly  depicted  on  it. 

The  river,  as  the  well-known  arm  of  the  sea  in  which  the 
Swash  was  lying  is  erroneously  termed,  was  just  at  that  mo- 
ment unusually  clear  of  craft,  and  not  a  sail,  larger  than  that 
of  a  boat,  was  to  be  seen  between  the  end  of  Blackwell's  Island 
and  Corlaer's  Hook,  a  distance  of  about  a  league.  This  stag 
nation  in  the  movement  of  the  port,  at  that  particular  point, 
was  owing  to  the  state  of  wind  and  tide.  Of  the  first,  there 
was  little  more  than  a  southerly  air,  while  the  last  was  about 
two-thirds  ebb.  Nearly  every  thing  that  was  expected  on  that 
tide,  coastwise,  and  by  the  way  of  the  Sound,  had  already  ar- 
rived, and  nothing  could  go  eastward,  with  that  light  breeze 
and  under  canvas,  until  the  flood  made.  Of  course  it  was  differ- 
ent with  the  steamers,  who  were  paddling  about  like  so  many 
ducks,  steering  in  all  directions,  though  mostly  crossing  and  re 
crossing  at  the  ferries.  Just  as  Mulford  turned  away  from  his 
commander,  however,  a  large  vessel  of  that  class  shoved  her  , 


JACK     TIER.  13 

bows  into  the  view,  doubling  the  Hook,  and  going  eastward, 
The  first  glance  at  this  vessel  sufficed  to  drive  even  Rose  Budd 
momentarily  out  of  the  minds  of  both  master  and  mate,  and  to 
give  a  new  current  to  their  thoughts.  Spike  had  been  on  the 
point  of  walking  up  the  wharf,  but  he  now  so  far  changed  his 
purpose  as  actually  to  juinj)  on  board  of  the  brig  and  spring  up 
alongside  of  his  mate,  on  the  taffrail,  in  order  to  get  a  better 
look  at  the  steamer.  Mulford,  who  loathed  so  much  in  his  com- 
mander, was  actually  glad  of  this,  Spike's  rare  merit  as  a  seaman 
forming  a  sort  of  attraction  that  held  him,  as  it  might  be  against 
his  own  will,  bound  to  his  service. 

"  What  will  they  do  next,  Harry  ?"  exclaimed  the  master,  his 
manner  and  voice  actually  humanized,  in  air  and  sound  at  least, 
by  this  unexpected  view  of  something  new  in  his  calling.  "What 
will  they  do  next  ?" 

"  I  see  no  wTheels,  sir,  nor  any  movement  in  the  water  astern, 
as  if  she  were  a  propeller,"  retuuied  the  young  man. 

"  She's  an  out-of-the-way  sort  of  a  hussy  !  She's  a  man-of- 
war,  too — one  of  Uncle  Sam's  new  efforts." 

"  That  can  hardly  be,  sir.  Uncle  Sam  has  but  three  steam- 
ers of  any  size  or  force,  now  the  Missouri  is  burned  ;  and  yonder 
is  one  of  them  lying  at  the  Navy- Yard,  while  another  is,  or  was 
lately,  laid  up  at  Boston.  The  third  is  in  the  Gulf.  This  must 
be  an  entirely  new  vessel,  if  she  belong  to  Uncle  Sam." 

"  New  !  She's  as  new  as  a  governor,  and  they  tell  me  they've 
got  so  now  that  they  choose  five  or  six  of  them,  up  at  Albany, 
every  fall.  That  craft  is  sea-going,  Mr.  Mulford,  as  any  one  can 
tell  at  a  glance.     She's  none  of  your  passenger-hoys." 

"  That's  plain  enough,  sir — and  she's  armed.  Perhaps  she's 
English,  and  they've  brought  her  here  into  this  open  spot  to 
try  some  new  machinery.  Ay,  ay,  she's  about  to  set  her  ensign  to 
the  navy  men  at  the  yard,  and  we  shall  see  to  whom  she  be- 
longs." 

A  long,  low,  expressive  whistle  from  Spike  succeeded  this  re- 
mark, the  colors  of  the  steamer  going  up  to  the  end  of  a  gaff  on 


14  JACK     TIER. 

the  sternmost  of  her  schooner-rigged  masts,  just  asMulford  ceased 
speaking.  There  was  just  air  enough,  aided  by  the  steamer's 
motion,  to  open  the  bunting,  and  let  the  spectators  see  the  de- 
sign. There  were  the  stars  and  stripes,  as  usual,  but  the  last 
ran  perpendicularly,  instead  of  in  a  horizontal  direction. 

"  Revenue,  by  George  !"  exclaimed  the  master,  as  soon  as  his 
breath  was  exhausted  in  the  whistle.  "  Who  would  have  be- 
lieved they  could  screw  themselves  up  to  doing  such  a  thing  in 
that  bloody  service  ?" 

"  I  now  remember  to  have  heard  that  Uncle  Sam  was  build- 
ing some  large  steamers  for  the  revenue  service,  and,  if  I  mistake 
not,  with  some  new  invention  to  get  along  with,  that  is  neither 
wheel  nor  propeller.  This  must  be  one.  of  these  new  craft,  brought 
out  here,  into  open  water,  just  to  try  her,  sir." 

"  You're  right,  sir,  you're  right.  As  to  the  natur'  of  the  beast, 
you  see  her  buntin',  and  no  honest  man  can  want  more.  If 
there's  any  thing  I  do  hate,  it  "is  that  flag,  with  its  unnat'ral 
stripes,  up  and  down,  instead  of  running  in  the  true  old  way. 
I  have  heard  a  lawyer  say,  that  -the  revenue  flag  of  this  country 
is  unconstitutional,  and  that  a  vessel  carrying  it  on  the  high 
seas  might  be  sent  in  for  piracy." 

Although  Harry  Mulford  was  neither  Puffendorf  nor  Grotius, 
he  had  too  much  common  sense,  and  too  little  prejudice  in  favor 
of  even  his  own  vocation,  to  swallow  such  a  theory,  had  fifty 
Cherry-street  lawyers  sworn  to  its  justice.  A  smile  crossed  his 
fine,  firm-looking  mouth,  and  something  very  like  a  reflection 
of  that  smile,  if  smiles  can  be  reflected  in  one's  own  counte- 
nance, gleamed  in  his  fine,  large,  dark  eye. 

"  It  would  be  somewhat  singular,  Captain  Spike,"  he  said, 
"  if  a  vessel  belonging  to  any  nation  should  be  seized  as  a 
pirate.  The  fact  that  she  is  national  in  character  would  clear 
her." 

"  Then  let  her  carry  a  national  flag,  and  be  d — d  to  her," 
answered  Spike  fiercely.  "  I  can  show  you  law  for  what  I  say, 
Mr.  Mulford.     The  American  flag  has  its  stripes  fore  and  aft  by 


JACK      TIKE,  15 

law,  and  this  cliap  carries  his  stripes  parpendic'lar.  If  1  com- 
manded a  cruiser,  and  fell  in  with  one  of  these  up  and  down 
gentry,  blast  me  if  I  wouldn't  just  send  him  into  port,  and  try 
the  question  in  the  old  almshouse." 

Mulford  probably  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  argue  the 
point  any  further,  understanding  the  dogmatism  and  stolidity 
of  his  commander  too  well  to  deem  it  necessary.  lie  preferred 
to  turn  to  the  consideration  of  the  qualities  of  the  steamer  in 
sight,  a  subject  on  which,  as  seamen,  they  might  better  sym- 
pathize. 

"  That's  a  drolMooking  revenue  cutter,  after  all,  Captain 
Spike,"  he  said  ;  "  a  craft  better  fitted  to  go  in  a  fleet,  as  a  look- 
out vessel,  than  to  chase  a  smuggler  in-shore." 

"  And  no  goer  in  the  bargain  !  I  do  not  see  how  she  gets 
along,  for  she  keeps  all  snug  under  water ;  but  unless  she  can 
travel  faster  than  she  does  just  now,  the  Molly  Swash  would 
soon  lend  her  the  Mother  Carey's  chickens  of  her  own  wake  to 
amuse  her." 

"  She  has  the  tide  against  her,  just  here,  sir ;  no  doubt  she 
would  do  better  in  still  water." 

Spike  muttered  something  between  his  teeth,  and  jumped 
down  on  deck,  seemingly  dismissing  the  subject  of  the  revenue 
entirely  from  his  mind.  Ilis  old,  coarse,  authoritative  manner 
returned,  and  he  again  spoke  to  his  mate  about  Rose  Budd,  her 
aunt,  the  "  ladies'  cabin,"  the  "  young  flood,"  and  "  casting  off," 
as  soon  as  the  last  made.  Mulford  listened  respectfully,  though 
with  a  manifest  distaste  for  the  instructions  he  was  receiving. 
He  knew  his  man,  and  a  feeling  of  dark  distrust  came  over  him, 
as  he  listened  to  his  orders  concerning  the  famous  accommoda- 
tions he  intended  to  give  to  Rose  Budd,  and  that  "capital  old  lady, 
her  aunt ;"  his  opinion  of  "  the  immense  deal  of  good  sea-air 
and  a  v'y'age  would  do  Rose,"  and  how  "  comfortable  they  both 
would  be  on  board  the  Molly  Swash." 

"  I  honor  and  respect  Mrs.  Budd,  as  my  captain's  lady,  you 
see,  Mr    Mulford,   and  intend  to  treat  her  accordin'ly.     She 


16  JACK      TIER. 

knows  it — and  Rose  knows  it — and  they  both  declare  they'd 
rather  sail  with  me,  since  sail  they  must,  than  with  any  other 
shipmaster  out  of  America." 

"  You  sailed  once  with  Captain  Budd  yourself,  I  think  I 
have  heard  you  say,  sir  ?" 

"  The  old  fellow  brought  me  up.  I  was  with  him  from  my 
tenth  to  my  twentieth  year,  and  then  broke  adrift  to  see  fash- 
ions. We  all  do  that,  you  know,  Mr.  Mulford,  when  we  are 
young  and  ambitious,  and  my  turn  came  as  well  as  another's." 

"  Captain  Budd  must  have  been  a  good  deal  older  than  his 
wife,  sir,  if  you  sailed  with  him  when  a  boy,"  Mulford  observed, 
a  little  dryly. 

"  Yes  ;  I  own  to  forty-eight,  though  no  one  would  think  me 
more  than  five  or  six-and-thirty,  to  look  at  me.  There  was  a 
great  difference  between  old  Dick  Budd  and  his  wife,  as  you 
say,  he  being  about  fifty,  when  he  married,  and  she  less  than 
twenty.  Fifty  is  a  good  age  for  matrimony,  in  a  man,  Mul- 
ford ;  as  is  twenty  in  a  young  woman." 

"  Rose  Budd  is  not  yet  nineteen,  I  have  heard  her  say,"  re- 
turned the  mate,  with  emphasis. 

"  Youngish,  I  will  own,  but  that's  a  fault  a  liberal-minded 
man  can  overlook.  Every  day,  too,  will  lessen  it.  Well,  look 
to  the  cabins,  and  see  all  clear  for  a  start.  Josh  will- be  down 
presently  with  a  cart-load  of  stores,  and -you'll  take  'em  aboard 
without  delay." 

As  Spike  uttered  this  order,  his  foot  was  on  the  plank-sheer  of  the 
bulwarks,  in  the  act  of  passing  to  the  wharf  again.  On  reaching 
the  shore,  he  turned  and  looked  intently  at  the  revenue  steamer, 
and  his  lips  moved,  as  if  he  were  secretly  uttering  maledictions 
on  her.  We  say  maledictions,  as  the  expression  of  his  fierce  ill- 
favored  countenance  too  plainly  showed  that  they  could  not  be 
blessings.  As  for  Mulford,  there  was  still  something  on  his 
mind,  and  he  followed  to  the  gangway  ladder  and  ascended  it, 
waiting  for  a  moment  when  the  mind  of  his  commander  might 
be  less  occupied   to  speak.     The  opportunity  soon   occurred, 


JACK      TIER.  11 

Spike  having  satisfied  himself  with  the  second  loot  at  th3 
steamer. 

"  I  hope  you  don't  mean  to  sail  again  without  a  second  mate, 
Captain  Spike  ?"  he  said. 

"  I  do,  though,  I  can  tell  you.  I  hate  Dickies — they  are  al- 
ways in  the  way,  and  the  captain  has  to  keep  just  as  much  of  a 
watch  with  one  as  without  one." 

"  That  will  depend  on  his  quality.  You  and  I  have  both 
been  Dickies  in  our  time,  sir ;  and  my  time  was  not  long  ago." 

"  Ay,  ay — I  know  all  about  it — but  you  didn't  stick  to  it 
long  enough  to  get  spoiled.  I  would  have  no  man  aboard  the 
Swash  who  made  more  than  two  v'y'ges  as  second  officer.  As  I 
want  no  spies  aboard  my  craft,  I'll  try  it  once  more  without  a 
Dickie." 

Saying  this  in  a  sufficiently  positive  manner,  Captain  Stephen 
Spike  rolled  up  the  wharf,  much  as  a  ship  goes  off  before  the 
wind,  now  inclining  to  the  right,  and  then  again  to  the  left. 
The  gait  of  the  man  would  have  proclaimed  him  a  sea-dog,  to 
any  one  acquainted  with  that  animal,  as  far  as  he  could  be  seen. 
The  short  squab  figure,  the  arms  bent  nearly  at  right  angles  at 
the  elbow,  and  working  like  two  fins  with  each  roll  of  the 
body  ;  the  stumpy,  solid  legs,  with  the  feet  looking  in  the  line 
■>f  his  course  and  kept  wide  apart,  would  all  have  contributed 
to  the  making  up  of  such  an  opinion.  Accustomed  as  he  was 
to  this  beautiful  sight,  Harry  Mulford  kept  his  eyes  riveted  on 
the  retiring  person  of  his  commander,  until  it  disappeared  be- 
hind a  pile  of  lumber,  waddling  always  in  the  direction  of  the 
more  thickly  peopled  parts  of  the  town.  Then  he  turned  and 
gazed  at  the  steamer,  which,  by  this  time,  had  fairly  passed  the 
brig,  and  seemed  to  be  actually  bound  through  the  Gate.  That 
steamer  was  certainly  a  noble-looking  craft,  but  our  young 
man  fancied  she  struggled  along  through  the  water  heavily. 
She  might  be  quick  at  need,  but  she  did  not  promise  as  much 
by  her  present  rate  of  moving.  Still,  she  was  a  noble-looking 
craft,  and,  as  Mulford  descended  to  the  deck  again,  he  almosi 


lo  JACKTIER. 

regretted  he  did  not  belong  to  her ;  or,  at  least,  to  any  thing 
but  the  Molly  Swash. 

Two  hours  produced  a  sensible  change  in  and  around  that 
brigantine.  Her  people  had  all  come  back  to  duty,  and  what 
was  very  remarkable  among  seafaring  folk,  sober  to  a  man. 
But,  as  has  been  said,  Spike  was  a  temperance  man,  as  re- 
spects all  under  his  orders  at  least,  if  not  strictly  so  in  practice 
himself.  The  crew  of  the  Swash  was  large  for  a  half-rigged 
brig  of  ouly  two  hundred  tons,  but,  as  her  spars  were  very 
square,  and  all  her  gear  as  well  as  her  mould  seemed  construct- 
ed for  speed,  it  was  probable  more  hands  than  common  were 
necessary  to  work  her  with  facility  and  expedition.  After  all, 
there  were  not  many  persons  to  be  enumerated  among  the 
"  people  of  the  Molly  Swash,"  as  they  called  themselves ;  not 
more  than  a  dozen,  including  those  aft,  as  well  as  those  for- 
ward. A  peculiar  feature  of  this  crew,  however,  was  the  cir- 
cumstance that  they  were  all  middle-aged  men,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  mate,  and  all  thoroughbred  sea-dogs.  Even  Josh, 
the  cabin-boy,  as  he  was  called,  was  an  old,  wrinkled,  gray- 
headed  negro,  of  near  sixty.  If  the  crew  wanted  a  little  in  the 
elasticity  of  youth,  it  possessed  the  steadiness  and  experience 
of  their  time  of  life,  every  man  appearing  to  know  exactly 
what  to  do,  and  when  to  do  it.  This,  indeed,  composed  their 
great  merit ;  an  advantage  that  Spike  well  knew  how  to  ap- 
preciate. 

The  stores  had  been  brought  alongside  of  the  brig  in  a  cart, 
and  were  already  stowed  in  their  places.  Josh ,  had  brushed 
and  swept,  until  the  ladies'  cabin  could  be  made  no  neater. 
This  ladies'  cabin  was  a  small  apartment  beneath  a  trunk, 
which  was,  ingeniously  enough,  separated  from  the  main  cabin 
by  pantries  and  double  doors.  The  arrangement  was  unusual, 
and  Spike  had  several  times  hinted  that  there  was  a  history 
connected  with  that  cabin  ;  though  what  the  history  was,  Mul- 
ford  never,  could  induce  him  to  relate.  The  latter  knew  that 
the  brig  had  been  used  for  a  forced  trade  on  the  Spanish  Main, 


JACK      TIER, 


and  had  heard  something  of  her  deeds  in  bringing  off  specie, 
and  proscribed  persons,  at  different  epochs  in  the  revolutions  of 
that  part  of  the  world,  and  he  had  always  understood  that  her 
present  commander  and  owner  had  sailed  in  her,  as  mate,  for 
many  years  before  he  had  risen  to  his  present  station.  Now, 
all  was  regular  "in  the  way  of  records,  bills  of  sale,  and  other 
documents ;  Stephen  Spike  appearing  in  both  the  capacities 
just  named.  The  register  proved  that  the  brig  had  been  built 
as  far  back  as  the  last  English  war,  as  a  private  cruiser,  but  re- 
cent and  extensive  repairs  had  made  her  "  better  than  new," 
as  her  owner  insisted,  and  there  was  no  question  as  to  her  sea- 
worthiness. It  is  true  the  insurance  offices  blew  upon  her,  and 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  craft  that  had  seen  her  two- 
score  years  and  ten ;  but  this  gave  none  who  belonged  to  her 
any  concern,  inasmuch  as  they  could  scarcely  have  been  under- 
written in  their  trade,  let  the  age  of  the  vessel  be  what  it  might. 
It  was  enough  for  them  that  the  brig  was  safe  and  exceedingly 
fast,  insurances  never  saving  the  lives  of  the  people,  whatever 
else  might  be  their  advantages.  With  Mulford  it  was  an  addi- 
tional recommendation,  that  the  Swash  was  usually  thought  to 
be  of  uncommonly  just  proportions. 

By  half-past  two,  P.  M.,  every  thing  was  ready  for  getting 
the  brigantine  under  way.  Her  fore-topsail — or  fore-ftrasail,  as 
Spike  called  it — was  loose,  the  fasts  were  singled,  and  a  sprincr 
had  been  carried  to  a  post  in  the  wharf,  that  was  well  forward 
of  the  starboard  bow,  and  the  brig's  head  turned  to  the  south- 
west, or  down  the  stream,  and  consequently  facing  the  young 
flood.  Nothing  seemed  to  connect  the  vessel  with  the  land  but 
a  broad  gangway  plank,  to  which  Mulford  had  attached  life- 
lines, with  more  care  than  it  is  usual  to  meet  with  on  board 
of  vessels  employed  in  short  voyages.  The  men  stood  about 
the  decks  with  their  arms  thrust  into  the  bosoms  of  their  shirts, 
and  the  whole  picture  was  one  of  silent,  and  possibly  of  some- 
what uneasy  expectation.  Nothing  was  said,  however ;  Mulford 
walking  the  quarter-deck  alone,  occasionally  looking  up  the  still 


20  JACK      TIER. 

little  tenanted  streets  of  that  quarter  of  the  suburbs,  as  if  to 
search  for  a  carriage.  As  for  the  revenue-steamer,  she  had  long 
before  gone  through  the  southern  passage  of  Blackwell's,  steer- 
ing for  the  Gate. 

"  Dat's  dern,  Mr.  Mulford,"  Josh  at  length  cried,  from  the 
lookout  he  had  taken  in  a  stern-port,  where  he  could  see  over 
the  low  bulwarks  of  the  vessel.  "  Yes,  dat's  dem,  sir.  I  know 
dat  old  gray  horse  dat  carries  his  head  so  low  and  sorrowful  like, 
as  a  horse  has  a  right  to  do  dat  has  to  drag  a  cab  about  this  big 
town.     My  e3rc  !  what  a  horse  it  is,  sir  !" 

Josh  was  right,  not  only  as  to  the  gray  horse  that  carried  his 
head  "  sorrowful  like,"  but  as  to  the  cab  and  its  contents.  The 
vehicle  was  soon  on  the  wharf,  and  in  its  door  soon  appeared 
the  short,  sturdy  figure  of  Captain  Spike,  backing  out,  much  as 
a  bear  descends  a  tree.  On  top  of  the  vehicle  were  several 
light  articles  of  female  appliances,  in  the  shape  of  bandboxes, 
bags,  &c,  the  trunks  having  previously  arrived  in  a  cart.  Well 
might  that  over-driven  gray  horse  appear  sorrowful,  and  travel 
with  a  lowered  head.  The  cab,  when  it  gave  up  its  contents, 
discovered  a  load  of  no  less  than  four  persons  besides  the  driver, 
all  of  weight,  and  of  dimensions  in  proportion,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  pretty  and  youthful  Rose  Budd.  Even  she  was 
plump,  and  of  a  well-rounded  person ;  though  still  light  and 
slender.  But  her  aunt  was  a  fair  picture  of  a  shipmaster's 
widow — solid,  comfortable,  and  buxom.  Neither  was  she  old, 
nor  ugly.  On  the  contrary,  her  years  did  not  exceed  forty ; 
and  being  well  preserved,  in  consequence  of  never  having  been 
a  mother,  she  might  even  have  passed  for  thirty-five.  The 
great  objection  to  her  appearance  was  the  somewhat  indefinite 
character  of  her  shape,  which  seemed  to  blend  too  many  of  its 
charms  into  one.  The  fourth  person,  in  the  fare,  was  Biddy 
Noon,  the  Irish  servant  and  factotum  of  Mrs.  Budd,  who  was 
a  pock-marked,  red-faced,  and  red-armed  single  woman,  about 
her  mistress's  own  agre  and  weight,  though  less  stout  to  the 


JACK      TIER,  21 

Of  Rose  we  shall  not  stop  to  say  much  here.  Her  deep-blue 
aye,  which  was  equally  spirited  and  gentle,  if  one  can  use . 
such  contradictory  terms,  seemed  alive  with  interest  and  curios- 
ity, running  over  the  brig,  the  wharf,  the  arm  of  the  sea,  the 
two  islands,  and  all  near  her,  including  the  Almshouse,  with 
such  a  devouring  rapidity  as  might  be  expected  in  a  town-bred 
girl,  who  was  setting  out  on  her  travels  for  the  first  time.  Let 
us  be  understood  :  we  say  town-bred,  because  such  was  the 
fact ;  for  Rose  Budd  had  been  both  born  and  educated  in  Man- 
hattan, though  we  are  far  .from  wishing  to  be  understood  that 
she  was  either  very  well-born,  or  highly  educated.  Her  station 
in  life  may  be  inferred  from  that  of  her  aunt,  and  her  education 
from  her  station.  Of  the  two,  the  last  was,  perhaps,  a  trifle  the 
highest. 

We  have  said  that  the  fine  blue  eye  of  Rose  passed  swiftly 
over  the  various  objects  near  her,  as  she  alighted  from  the  cab, 
and  it  naturally  took  in  the  form  of  Harry  Mulford,  as  he  stood 
in  the  gangway,  offering  his  arm  to  aid  her  aunt  and  herself  in 
passing  the  brig's  side.  A  smile  of  recognition  was  exchanged 
between  the  young  people,  as  their  eyes  met,  and  the  color,  which 
formed  so  bright  a  charm  in  Rose's  sweet  face,  deepened,  in  a 
way  to  prove  that  that  color  spoke  with  a  tongue  and  elo- 
quence of  its  own.  Nor  was  Mulford's  cheek  mute  on  the 
occasion,  though  he  helped  the  hesitating,  half-doubting,  half- 
bold  girl  along  the  plank  with  a  steady  hand  and  rigid  mus- 
cles. As  for  the  aunt,  as  a  captain's  widow,  she  had  not  felt  it 
necessary  to  betray  any  extraordinary  emotions  in  ascending 
the  plank,  unless,  indeed,  it  might  be  those  of  delight  on  finding 
her  foot  once  more  on  the  deck  of  a  vessel. 

Something  of  the  same  feeling  governed  Biddy,  too ;  for,  as 
Mulford  civilly  extended  his  hand  to  her  also,  sho  exclaimed — 

"  No  fear  of  me,  Mr.  Mate — I  came  from  Ireland  by  wather, 
and  knows  all  about  ships  and  brigs,  I  do.  If  you  could  have 
seen  the  times  we  had,  and  the  saas  we  crossed,  ysu'd  not  think 
it  nadeful  to  say  much  to  the  likes  iv  me." 


22  JACK      TIER. 

Spike  bad  tact  enough  to  understand  he  would  be  out  of  hit 
element  in  assisting  females  along  that  plank,  and  he  was  busy 
in  sending  what  he  called  "the  old  lady's  dunnage"  on  board, 
and  in  discharging  the  cabman.  As  soon  as  this  was  done,  he 
sprang  into  the  main-channels,  and  thence,  via  the  bulwarks, 
on  deck,  ordering  the  plank  to  be  hauled  aboard.  A  solitary 
laborer  was  paid  a  quarter  to  throw  off  the  fasts  from  the  ring- 
bolts and  posts,  and  every  thing  was  instantly  in  motion  to  cast 
the  brig  loose.  Work  went  on  as  if  the  vessel  were  in  haste, 
and  it  consequently  went  on  with'  activity.  Spike  bestirred 
himself,  giving  his  orders  in  a  way  to  denote  he  had  been  long 
accustomed  to  exercise  authority  on  the  deck  of  a  vessel,  and 
knew  his  calling  to  its  minutiae.  The  only  ostensible  difference 
between  his  deportment  to-day  and  on  any  ordinary  occasion, 
perhaps,  was  in  the  circumstance  that  he  now  seemed  anxious 
to  get  clear  of  the  wharf,  and  that  in  a  way  which  might  have 
attracted  notice  in  any  suspicious  and  attentive  observer.  It  is 
possible  that  such  a  one  was  not  very  distant,  and  that  Spike 
was  aware  of  his  presence;  for  a  respectable-looking,  well- 
dressed,  middle-aged  man  had  come  down  one  of  the  adjacent 
streets,  to  a  spot  witffin  a  hundred  yards  of  the  wharf,  and  stood 
silently  watching  the  movements  of  the  brig,  as  he  leaned 
against  a  fence.  The  want  of  houses  in  that  quarter  enabled 
any  person  to  see  this  stranger  from  the  deck  of  the  Swash, 
but  no  one  on  board  her  seemed  to  regard  him  at  all,  unless  it 
might  be  the  master. 

"  Come,  bear  a  hand,  my  hearty,  and  toss  that  bow-fast  clear," 
cried  the  captain,  whose  impatience  to  be  off  seemed  to  increase 
as  the  time  to  do  so  approached  nearer  and  nearer.  "Off  with 
it  at  once,  and  let  her  go." 

The  man  on  the  wharf  threw  the  turns  of  the  hawser  clear 
of  the  post,  and  the  Swash  was  released  forward.  A  smaller 
line,  for  a  spring,  had  been  run  some  distance  along  the  wharves, 
ahead  of  the  vessel,  and  brought  iu  aft.  Her  people  clapped 
on  this,  and  have  way  to  their  craft,  which,  being  comparatively 


JACK      TIEK.  23 

light,  was  easily  moved,  and  very  manageable.  As  this  was 
done,  the  distant  spectator,  who  had  been  leaning  on  the 
fence,  moved  towards  the  wharf  with  a  step  a  little  quicker  than 
common.  Almost  at  the  same  instant,  a  short,  stout,  sailor-like 
looking  little  person,  waddled  down  the  nearest  street,  seeming 
to  be  in  somewhat  of  a  hurry,  and  presently  he  joined  the  other 
stranger,  and  appeared  to  enter  into  conversation  with  him ; 
pointing  towards  the  Swash  as  he  did  so.  All  this  time,  both 
continued  to  advance  towards  the  wharf. 

In  the  moan  while  Spike  and  his  people  were  not  idle.  The 
tide  did  not  run  very  strong  near  the  wharves  and  in  the  sort 
of  a  bight  in  which  the  vessel  had  lain  ;  but,  such  as  it  was,  it 
soon  took  the  brig  on  her  inner  bow,  and  began  to  cast  her 
head  off  shore.  The  people  at  the  spring  pulled  away  with  all 
their  force,  and  got  sufficient  motion  on  their  vessel  to  overcome 
the  tide,  and  to  give  the  rudder  an  influence.  The  latter  was 
put  hard  a-starboard,  and  helped  to  cast  the  brig's  head  to  the 
Southward. 

Down  to  this  moment,  the  only  sail  that  was  loose  on  board 
the  Swash  was  the  fore-topsail,  as  mentioned.  This  still  hung 
in  the  gear,  but  a  hand  had  been  sent  aloft  to  overhaul  the 
buntlines  and  clewlines,  and  men  were  also  at  the  sheets.  In  a 
minute  the  sail  was  ready  for  hoisting.  The  Swash  carried  a 
wapper  of  a  fore-and-aft  mainsail,  and,  what  is  more,  it  was  fit- 
ted with  a  standing  gaff,  for  appearance  in  port.  At  sea,  Spike 
knew  better  than  to  trust  to  this  arrangement ;  but  in  fine 
weather,  and  close  in  with  the  land,  he  found  it  convenient  to 
have  this  sail  haul  out  and  brail  like  a  ship's  spanker.  As  the 
gaff-  was  now  aloft,  it  was  only  necessary  to  let  go  the  brails  to 
loosen  this  broad  sheet  of  canvas,  and  to  clap  on  the  out-hauler, 
to  set  it.  This  was  probably  the  reason  why  +he  brig  was  so 
unceremoniously  cast  into  the  stream,  without  showing  more  of 
uer  cloth.  The  jib  and  flying-jibs,  however,  did  at  that  moment 
Irop  beneath  their  booms,  ready  for  hoisting. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  as  the  two  strangers  came  first 


24  JACK     TIER. 

upon  the  wharf.  Spike  was  ou  the  taffrail,  overhauling  the 
main-sheet,  and  Mulford  was  near  him,  casting  the  fore-topsail 
braces  from  the  pins,  preparatory  to  clapping  on  the  hal- 
yards. 

"  I  say,  Mr.  Mulford,"  asked  the  captain,  "  did  you  ever  see 
either  of  them  chaps  afore  ?  These  jokers  on  the  wharf,  I 
mean." 

"  Not  to  my  recollection,  sir,"  answered  the  mate,  looking 
over  the  taffrail  to  examine  the  parties.  "  The  little  one  is  a 
burster  !  The  funniest-looking  little  fat  old  fellow  I've  seen  in 
many  a  day." 

"  Ay,  ay,  them  fat  little  bursters,  as  you  call  'em,  are  some- 
times full  of  the  devil.  I  don't  like  either  of  the  chaps,  and  am 
right  glad  we  are  well  cast  before  they  got  here." 

"  I  do  not  think  either  would  be  likely  to  do  us  much  harm, 
Captain  Spike." 

"  There's  no  knowing,  sir.  The  biggest  fellow  looks  as  if  he 
might  lug  out  a  silver  oar  at  any  moment." 

"  I  believe  the  silver  oar  is  no  longer  used,  in  this  country  at 
least,"  answered  Mulford,  smiling.  "  And  if  it  were,  what  have 
we  to  fear  from  it  \     I  fancy  the  brig  has  paid  her  reckoning." 

"  She  don't  owe  a  cent,  nor  ever  shall  for  twenty-four  hours 
after  the  bill  is  made  out,  while  I  own  her.  They  call  me  ready- 
money  Stephen,  round  among  the  ship-chandlers  and  calkers. 
But  I  don't  like  them  chaps ;  and  what  I  don't  relish  I  never 
swallow,  you  know." 

"  They'll  hardly  try  to  get  aboard  us,  sir ;  you  see  we  are 
quite  clear  of  the  wharf,  and  the  mainsail  will  take  now,  if  we 
set  it." 

Spike  ordered  the  mate  to  clap  on  the  outhauler,  and  spread 
that  broad  sheet  of  canvas  at  once  to  the  little  breeze  there  was. 
This  was  almost  immediately  done,  when  the  sail  rilled,  and 
began  to  be  felt  on  the  movement  of  the  vessel.  Still,  that 
movement  was  very  slow,  the  wind  being  so  light,  and  the  vis 
inertice  of  so  large  a  body  remaining  to  be   overcome.     The 


JACK     TIER.  25 

brig  receded  fiom  the  wharf,  almost  in  a  line  at  right  angles  to 
its  face,  inch  by  incb,  as  it  might  be,  dropping  slowly  up  with 
the  tide  at  the  same  time.  Mulford  now  passed  forward  to  set 
the  jibs,  and  to  get  the  topsail  on  the  craft,  leaving  Spike  on 
the  taftrail,  keenly  eyeing  the  strangers,  who,  by  this  time,  had 
got  down  nearly  to  the  end  of  the  wharf,  at  the  berth  so  lately 
occupied  by  the  Swash.  That  the  captain  was  uneasy  was  evi- 
dent enough,  that  feeling  being  exhibited  in  his  countenance, 
blended  with  a  malignant  ferocity. 

"  Has  that  brig  any  pilot  ?"  asked  the  larger  and  better-looking 
of  the  two  strangers. 

"  What's  that  to  you,  friend  ?"  demanded  Spike,  in  return. 
■  Have  you  a  Hell-Gate  branch  ?" 

"  I  may  have  one,  or  I  may  not.  It  is  not  usual  for  so  large 
a  craft  to  run  the  Gate  without  a  pilot." 

"  Oh,  my  gentleman's  below,  brushing  up  his  logarithms.  We 
shall  have  him  on  deck  to  take  his  departure  before  long,  when 
I'll  let  him  know  your  kind  inquiries  after  his  health." 

The  man  on  the  wharf  seemed  to  be  familiar  with  this  sort 
of  sea-wit,  and  he  made  no  answer,  but  continued  that  close 
scrutiny  of  the  brig,  by  turning  his  eyes  in  all  directions,  now 
looking  below,  and  now  aloft,  wrhich  had  in  truth  occasioned 
Spike's  principal  cause  for  uneasiness. 

"  Is  not  that  Captain  Stephen  Sjjike,  of  the  brigantine  Molly 
Swash  ?"  called  out  the  little,  dumpling-looking  person,  in  a 
cracked,  dwarfish  sort  of  a  voice,  that  was  admirably  adapted 
to  his  appearance.  Our  captain  fairly  started,  turned  full  to- 
wards the  speaker,  regarded  him  intently  for  a  moment,  and 
gulped  the  words  he  wras  about  to  utter,  like  one  confounded. 
As  he  gazed,  however,  at  little  dumpy,  examining  his  bow-legs,  red 
broad  cheeks,  and  coarse  snub  nose,  he  seemed  to  regain  his  self- 
comroand,  as  if  satisfied  the  dead  had  not  really  returned  to  life. 

"  Are  you  acquainted  with  the  gentleman  you  have  named  ?" 
he  asked,  by  way  of  answer.  "  You  speak  of  him  like  one  who 
ought  to  know  him." 

2 


26  JACK     TIER. 

"  A  body  is  apt  to  know  a  shipmate.  Stephen  Spike  and  1 
sailed  together  twenty  years  since,  and  I  hope  to  live  to  sail  with 
him  again." 

"  You  sail  with  Stephen  Spike  ?  when  and  where,  may  I  ask, 
and  in  what  v'y'ge,  pray  ?" 

"  The  last  time  was  twenty  years  since.  Ilave  you  forgotten 
little  Jack  Tier,  Captain  Spike?" 

Spike  looked  astonished,  and  well  he  might,  for  he  had  sup- 
posed Jack  to  be  dead  fully  fifteen  years.  Time  and  hard  ser- 
vice had  greatly  altered  him,  but  the  general  resemblance  in 
figure,  stature, and  waddle, certainly  remained.  Notwithstanding, 
the  Jack  Tier  that  Spike  remembered  was  quite  a  different 
person  from  this  Jack  Tier.  That  Jack  had  worn  his  intensely 
black  hair  clubbed  and  curled,  whereas  this  Jack  had  cut  his 
locks  into  short  bristles,  which  time  had  turned  into  an  intense 
gray.  That  Jack  was  short  and  thick,  but  he  was  flat  and 
square ;  whereas  this  Jack  was  just  as  short,  a  good  deal 
thicker,  and  as  round  as  a  dumpling.  In  one  thing,  however, 
the  likeness  still  remained  perfect.  Both  Jacks  chewed  to- 
bacco, to  a  degree  that  became  a  distinct  feature  in  their  ap- 
pearance. 

Spike  had  many  reasons  for  wishing  Jack  Tier  were  not  re- 
suscitated in  this  extraordinary  manner,  and  some  fur  being  glad 
to  see  him.  The  fellow  had  once  been  largely  in  his  confidence, 
and  knew  more  than  was  quite  safe  for  any  one  to  remember 
but  himself,  while  he  might  be  of  great  use  to  him  in  his  future 
operations.  It  is  always  convenient  to  have  one  at  your  elbow 
who  thoroughly  understands  you,  and  Spike  would  have  lowered 
a  boat  and  sent  it  to  the  wharf  to  bring  Jack  off,  were  it  not 
for  the  gentleman  who  was  so  inquisitive  about  pilots.  Under 
the  circumstances,  he  determined  to  forego  the  advantages  of 
Jack's  presence,  reserving  the  right  to  hunt  him  up  on  his  re- 
turn. 

The  reader  will  readily  enough  comprehend,  that  the  Molly 
Swash  was  not  absolutely  standing  still  while  the  dialogue  re- 


JACK     TIER.  27 

lated  was  going  on,  and  the  thoughts  we  have  recorded  were 
passing  through  her  master's  mind.  On  the  contrary,  she  was 
not  only  in  motion,  but  that  motion  was  gradually  increasing, 
and  by  the  time  all  was  said  that  has  been  related,  it  had 
become  necessary  for  those  who  spoke  to  raise  their  voices  to 
an  inconvenient  pitch  in  order  to  be  heard.  This  circumstance 
alone  would  soon  have  put  an  end  to  the  conversation,  had  not 
Spike's  pausing  to  reflect  brought  about  the  same  result  as  men- 
tioned. 

In  the  mean  time,  Mulford  had  got  the  canvas  spread.  For- 
ward, the  Swash  showed  all  the  cloth  of  a  full-rigged  brig,  even 
to  royals  and  flying  jib ;  while  aft,  her  mast  was  the  raking, 
tall,  naked  pole  of  an  American  schooner.  There  was  a  taunt 
topmast,  too,  to  which  a  gaff-topsail  was  set,  and  the  gear 
proved  that  she  could  also  show,  at  need,  a  staysail  in  this  part 
of  her,  if  necessary.  As  the  Gate  was  before  them,  however,  the 
people  had  set  none  but  the  plain,  manageable  canvas. 

The  Molly  Swash  kept  close  on  a  wind,  luffing  athwart  the 
broad  reach  she  was  in,  until  far  enough  to  weather  Blackwell's, 
when  she  edged  off  to  her  course,  and  went  through  the  south- 
ern passage.  Although  the  wind  remained  light,  and  a  little 
baffling,  the  brig  was  so  easily  impelled,  and  was  so  very  handy, 
that  there  was  no  difficulty  in  keeping  her  perfectly  in  com- 
mand. The  tide,  too,  was  fast  increasing  in  strength  and  velocity, 
and  the  movement  from  this  cause  alone  was  getting  to  be  suf- 
ficiently rapid. 

As  for  the  passengers,  of  whom  we  have  lost  sight  in  order  to 
get  the  brig  under  way,  they  were  now  on  deck  again.  At  first, 
they  had  all  gone  below,  under  the  care  of  Josh,  a  somewhat 
rough  groom  of  the  chambers,  to  take  possession  of  their  apart- 
ment, a  sufficiently  neat,  and  exceedingly  comfortable  cabin, 
supplied  with  every  thing  that  could  be  wanted  at  sea,  and, 
what  was  more,  lined  on  two  of  its  sides  with  staterooms.  It  is 
true,  all  these  apartments  were  small,  and  the  staterooms  were 
verv  low,  but  no  fault  could  be  found  with  their  neatness  and 


28  JACK     TIER. 

general  arrangements,  when  it  was  recollected  that  one  was  on 
board  a  vessel. 

"Here  ebbery  t'ing  heart  can  wish,"  said  Josh,  exultingly, 
who,  being  an  old-school  black,  did  not  disdain  to  use  some  ol 
the  old-school  dialect  of  his  caste.  "  Yes,  ladies,  ebbery  t'ing. 
Let  Cap'n  Spike  alone  for  dat !  He  won'erful  at  accommoda- 
tion !  Not  a  bed-bug  aft — know  better  dan  come  here ;  jest 
like  de  people,  in  dat  respects,  and  keep  deir  place  forrard.  Ycu 
nebber  see  a  pig  come  on  de  quarter-deck,  nudder." 

"You  must  maintain  excellent  discipline,  Josh,"  cried  Rose, 
in  one  of  the  sweetest  voices  jn  the  world,  which  was  easily 
attuned  to  merriment — "  and  we  are  delighted  to  learn  what 
you  tell  us.  How  do  you  manage  to  keep  up  these  distinctions 
and  make  such  creatures  know  their  places  so  well  ?" 

"  Nuttin  easier,  if  you  begin  right,  miss.  As  for  de  pig,  1 
teach  dem  wid  scaldin'  water.  Wheneber  I  sees  a  pig  come 
aft,  I  gets  a  little  water  from  de  copper,  and  just  scald  him  wid 
it.  You  can't  t'ink,  miss,  how  dat  mend  his  manners,  and  make 
him  squeel  fuss,  and  t'ink  arter.  In  dat  fashion  I  soon  get  de 
ole  ones  in  good  trainin',  and  den  I  has  no  more  trouble  wid 
dem  as  comes  fresh  aboard ;  for  de  ole  hog  tell  de  young  one, 
and  'em  won'erful  cunnin',  and  know  how  to  take  care  of  'em- 
self." 

Rose  Budd's  sweet  eyes  were  full  of  fun  and  expectation,  and 
she  could  no  more  repress  her  laugh  than  youth  and  spirits  can 
always  be  discreet. 

"  Yes,  with  the  pigs,"  she  cried,  "  that  might  do  very  well ; 
but  how  is  it  with  those — other  creatures  V 

"  Rosy,  dear,"  interrupted  the  aunt,  "  I  wish  you  would  say 
no  more  about  such  shocking  things.  It's  enough  for  us  that 
Captain  Spike  has  ordered  them  all  to  stay  forward  among  the 
men,  which  is  always  done  on  board  well-disciplined  vessels. 
I've  heard  your  uncle  say,  a  hundred  times,  that  the  quarter- 
deck was  sacred,  and  that  might  be  enough  to  keep  such  ani- 
mals off  it." 


JACK     TIER.  29 

It  was  barely  necessary  to  look  at  Mrs.  Budd  in  the  face  to 
get  a  very  accurate  general  notion  of  her  character.  She  was 
one  of  those  inane,  uncultivated  beings  who  seem  to  be  protected 
by  a  benevolent  Providence  in  their  pilgrimage  on  earth,  for 
they  do  not  seem  to  possess  the  power  to  protect  themselves. 
Her  very  countenance  expressed  imbecility  and  mental  depen- 
dence, credulity  and  a  love  of  gossip.  Notwithstanding  these 
radical  weaknesses,  the  good  woman  had  some  of  the  better 
instincts  of  her  sex,  and  was  never  guilty  of  any  thing  that 
could  properly  convey  reproach. 

She  was  no  monitress  for  Rose,  however,  the  niece  much 
oftener  influencing  the  aunt,  than  the  aunt  influencing  the  niece. 
The  latter  had  been  fortunate  in  having  had  an  excellent  instruct- 
ress, who,  though  incapable  of  teaching  her  much  in  the  way  of 
accomulishments,  had  imparted  a  great  deal  that  was  respect- 
able and  useful.  Rose  had  character,  and  strong  character,  too, 
as  the  course  of  our  narrative  will  show ;  but  her  worthy  aunt 
was  a  pure  picture  of  as  much  mental  imbecility  as  at  all  com- 
ported with  the  privileges  of  self-government. 

The  conversation  about  "those  other  creatures''  was  effectually 
checked  by  Mrs.  Budd's  horror  of  the  "  animals,"  and  Josh  was 
called  on  deck  so  shortly  after  as  to  prevent  its  being  renewed. 
The  females  staid  below  a  few  minutes,  to  take  possession,  and 
then  they  reappeared  on  deck,  to  gaze  at  the  horrors  of  the 
Hell-Gate  passage.  Rose  was  all  eyes,  wonder  and  admiration 
of  every  thing  she  saw.  This  was  actually  the  first  time  she 
had  ever  been  on  the  water,  in  any  sort  of  craft,  though  born 
and  brought  up  in  sight  of  one  of  the  most  thronged  havens  in 
the  world.  But  there  must  be  a  beginning  to  every  thing,  and 
this  was  Rose  Budd's  beginning  on  the  water.  It  is  true  the 
brigantine  was  a  very  beautiful,  as  well  as  an  exceedingly  swift 
vessel ;  but  all  this  was  lost  on  Rose,  who  would  have  admired 
a  horse-jockey  bound  to  the  West  Indies,  in  this  the  incipient 
state  of  her  nautical  knowledge.  Perhaps  the  exquisite  neatness 
that  Mulford  maintained  about  every  thing  that  came  under  his 


30  JACK     HER. 

care,  and  that  included  every  thing  on  deck,  or  above-board,  and 
about  which  neatness  Spike  occasionally  muttered  an  oath,  as 
so  much  senseless  trouble,  contributed  somewhat  to  Rose's 
pleasure ;  but  her  admiration  would  scarcely  have  been  less 
with  any  thing  that  had  sails,  and  seemed  to  move  through  the 
water  with  a  power  approaching  that  of  volition. 

It  was  very  different  with  Mrs.  Budd.  She,  good  woman, 
had  actually  made  one  voyage  with  her  late  husband,  and  she 
fancied  that  she  knew  all  about  a  vessel.  It  was  her  delight  to 
talk  on  nautical  subjects,  and  never  did  she  really  feel  her 
great  superiority  over  her  niece,  so  very  unequivocally,  as  when 
the  subject  of  the  ocean  was  introduced,  about  which  she  did 
know  something,  and  touching  which  Rose  was  profoundly 
ignorant,  or  as  ignorant  as  a  girl  of  lively  imagination  could  re- 
main with  the  information  gleaned  from  others. 

"1  am  not  surprised  you  are  astonished  at  the  sight  of  the  ves- 
sel, Rosy,"  observed  the  self-complacent  aunt  at  one  of  her  niece's 
exclamations  of  admiration.  "A  vessel  is  a  veiy  wonderful  thing, 
and  we  are  told  what  extr'orny  beings  they  are  that  '  go  down 
to  the  sea  in  ships.'  But  you  are  to  know  this  is  not  a  ship  at  all, 
but  only  a  half-jigger  rigged,  which  is  altogether  a  different  thing." 

"  Was  my  uncle's  vessel,  The  Rose  In  Bloom,  then,  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  Swash  ?" 

"Very  different  indeed,  child  !  Why,  The  Rose  In  Bloom  was 
a  full  jiggered  ship,  and  had  twelve  masts — and  this  is  only  a 
half-jiggered  brig,  and  has  but  two  masts.  See,  you  may  count 
them — one — two  !" 

Harry  Mulford  was  coiling  away  a  top-gallant-brace,  directly 
in  front  of  Mrs.  Budd  and  Rose,  and,  at  hearing  this  account  of 
the  wonderful  equipment  of  The  Rose  In  Bloom,  he  suddenly 
looked  up,  Avith  a  lurking  expression  about  his  eye  that  the 
niece  very  well  comprehended,  Avhile  he  exclaimed,  without 
much  reflection,  under  the  impulse  of  surprise — 

"  Twelve  masts !  Did  I  understand  you  to  say,  ma'am,  that 
Capt.  Budd's  ship  had  twelve  masts  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  31 

"  Yes,  sir,  twelve !  and  I  cau  tell  you  all  their  names,  for  1 
learnt  them  by  heart — it  appearing  to  me  proper  that  a  ship- 
master's wife  should  know  the  names  of  all  the  masts  in  her  hus- 
band's vessel.    Do  you  wish  to  hear  their  names,  Mr.  Mulford  ?" 

Harry  Mulford  would  have  enjoyed  this  conversation  to  the 
top  of  his  bent,  had  it  not  been  for  Rose.  She  well  knew  her 
aunt's  general  weakness  of  intellect,  and  especially  its  weakness 
on  this  particular  subject,  but  she  would  suffer  no  one  to  mani- 
fest contempt  for  either,  if  in  her  power  to  prevent  it.  It  is 
seldom  one  so  young,  so  mirthful,  so  ingenuous  and  innocent  in 
the  expression  of  her  countenance,  assumed  so  significant  and 
rebuking  a  frown  as  did  pretty  Rose  Budd  when  she  heard  the 
mate's  involuntary  exclamation  about  the  "  twelve  masts."  Harry, 
who  was  not  easily  checked  by  his  equals,  or  any  of  his  own  sex, 
submitted  to  that  rebuking  frown  with  the  meekness  of  a  child, 
and.  stammered  out,  in  answer  to  the  well-meaning,  but  weak- 
minded  widow's  question — 

"  If  you  please,  Mrs.  Budd — just  as  you  please,  ma'am — only 
twelve  is  a  good  many  masts — "  Rose  frowned  again — "  that  is 
— more  than  I'm  used  to  seeing — that's  all." 

"  I  dare  say,  Mr.  Mulford — for  you  sail  in  only  a. half-jigger  ; 
but  Captain  Budd  always  sailed  in  a  full-jigger — and  his  full- 
jiggered  ship  had  just  twelve  masts;  and,  to  prove  it  to  you, 
I'll  give  you  the  names.  First,  then,  there  were  the  fore,  main, 
and  mizen  masts — " 

"  Yes — yes — ma'am,"  stammered  Harry,  who  wished  the 
twelve  masts  and  The  Rose  In  Bloom  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  since  her  owner's  niece  still  continued  to  lock  coldly  dis- 
pleased— "  that's  right,  I  can  swear  !" 

"  Very  true,  sir ;  and  you'll  find  I  am  right  as  to  all  the  rest. 
Then,  there  were  the  fore,  main,  and  mizen  top-masts — they 
make  six,  if  I  can  count,  Mr.  Mulford  ?" 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  the  mate,  laughing,  in  spite  of  Rose's 
frowns,  as  the  manner  in  which  the  old  sea-dog  had  quizzed  his 
wife  became  apparent  to  him,  "  I  see  how  it  is — you  are  quite 


32  JACK     TIER. 

right,  ma'am — I  dare  say  The  Rose  In  Bloom  had  all  these 
masts,  and  some  to  spare." 

"Yes,  sir — I  knew  you  would  be  satisfied.  The  fore,  main, 
and  mizen  top-gallant  masts  make  nine — and  the  fore,  main, 
and  mizen  royals  make  just  twelve.  Oh,  I'm  never  wrong  in 
any  thing  about  a  vessel,  especially  if  she  is  a  full-jiggered 
ship." 

Mulford  had  some  difficulty  in  restraining  his  smiles  each 
time  the  full-jigger  was  mentioned,  but  Rose's  expression  of 
countenance  kept  him  in  excellent  order — and  she,  innocent 
creature,  saw  nothing  ridiculous  in  the  term,  though  the  twelve 
masts  had  given  her  a  little  alarm.  Delighted  that  the  old  lady 
had  got  through  her  enumeration  of  the  spars  with  so  much  suc- 
cess, Rose  cried,  in  the  exuberance  of  her  spirits — 

"  Well,  aunty,  for  my  part,  I  find  a  half-jigger  vessel  so  very, 
very  beautiful,  that  I  do  not  know  how  I  should  behave  were  I 
to  go  on  board  a /«  ^-jigger." 

Mulford  turned  abruptly  away,  the  circumstance  of  Rose's 
making  herself  ridiculous  giving  him  sudden  pain,  though  he 
could  have  laughed  at  her  aunt  by  the  hour. 

"  Ah,  my  dear,  that  is  on  account  of  your  youth  and  inexpe- 
rience ;  but  you  will  learn  better  in  time.  I  was  just  so,  myself, 
when  I  was  of  your  age,  and  thought  the  fore-rafters  were  as 
handsome  as  the  squared-jiggers ;  but  soon  after  I  married 
Captain  Budd  I  felt  the  necessity  of  knowing  more  than  I  did 
about  ships,  and  I  got  him  to  teach  me.  lie  didn't  like  the 
business,  at  first,  and  pretended  I  would  never  learn ;  but,  at 
last,  it  came  all  at  once,  like,  and  then  he  used  to  be  delighted 
to  hear  me  '  talk  ship,'  as  he  called  it.  I've  known  him 
laugh,  with  his  cronies,  as  if  ready  to  die,  at  my  expertness  in 
sea-terms,  for  half  an  hour  together ;  and  then  he  would 
swear — that  was  the  worst  fault  your  uncle  had,  Rosy — he 
would  swear,  sometimes,  in  a  way  that  frightened  me,  I  do 
declare  !" 

"  But  he  never  swore  at  you,  aunty  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  38 

"  1  can't  say  that  he  did  exactly  do  that,  but  he  would  swear 
all  round  me,  even  if  he  didn't  actually  touch  me,  when  things 
went  wrong  ;  but  it  would  have  done  your  heart  good  to  hear 
him  laugh  !  He  had  a  most  excellent  heart,  just  like  your  own, 
Rosy  dear ;  but,  for  that  matter,  all  the  Budds  have  excellent 
hearts,  and  one  of  the  commonest  ways  your  uncle  had  of  show- 
ing it  was  to  laugh,  particularly  when  we  were  together  and 
talking.  Oh,  he  used  to  delight  in  hearing  me  converse,  es- 
pecially about  vessels,  and  never  failed  to  get  me  at  it  when  he 
had  company.  I  see  his  good-natured,  excellent-hearted  coun- 
tenance at  this  moment,  with  the  tears  running  down  his  fat, 
manly  cheeks,  as  he  shook  his  very  sides  with  laughter.  I  may 
live  a  hundred  years,  Rosy,  before  I  meet  again  with  your  un- 
cle's equal." 

This  was  a  subject  that  invariably  silenced  Rose.  She  remem- 
bered her  uncle,  heiself,  and  remembered  his  affectionate  manner 
of  laughing  at  her  aunt,  and  she  always  wished  the  latter  to  get 
through  her  eulogiums  on  her  married  happiness  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, whenever  the  subject  was  introduced. 

All  this  time  the  Molly  Swash  kept  in  motion.  Spike  never 
took  a  pilot  when  he  could  avoid  it,  and  his  mind  was  too  much 
occupied  with  his  duty,  in  that  critical  navigation,  to  share  at 
all  in  the  conversation  of  his  passengers,  though  he  did  endeavor 
to  make  himself  agreeable  to  Rose,  by  an  occasional  remark, 
when  a  favorable  opportunity  offered. 

As  soon  as  he  had  worked  his  brig  over  into  the  south  or 
weather  passage  of  Blackwell's,  however,  there  remained  little 
for  him  to  do,  until  she  had  drifted  through  it,  a  distance  of  a 
mile  or  more;  and  this  gave  him  leisure  to  do  the  honors.  lie 
pointed  out  the  castellated  edifice  on  Blackwell's  as  the  new 
penitentiary,  and  the  hamlet  of  villas,  on  the  otber  shore,  as 
Ravenswood,  though  there  is  neither  wood  nor  ravens  to  au- 
thorize the  name.  But  the  "  Sunswick,"  which  satisfied  the 
Delafields  and  Gibbses  of  the  olden  time,  and  which  distin- 
guished their  lofty  halls    and  broad  lawns,  was   not  elegant 


34  JACK     TIER, 

enough  for  the  cockney  tastes  of  these  latter. days,  so  "wood" 
must  be  made  to  usurp  the  place  of  cherries  and  apples,  and 
"  ravens "  that  of  gulls,  in  order  to  satisfy  its  cravings.  But 
all  this  was  lost  on  Spike.  He  remembered  the  shore  as  it  had 
been  twenty  years  before,  and  he  saw  what  it  was  now,  but  lit- 
tle did  he  care  for  the  change.  On  the  whole,  he  rather  pre- 
ferred the  Grecian  Temples,  over  which  the  ravens  would  have 
been  compelled  to  fly,  had  there  been  any  ravens  in  that  neigh- 
borhood, to  the  old-fashioned  and  highly  respectable  residence 
that  once  alone  occupied  the  spot.  The  point  he  did  under- 
stand, however,  and  on  the  merits  of  which  he  had  something 
to  say,  was  a  little  farther  ahead.  That,  too,  had  been  re- 
christened — the  Hallet's  Cove  of  the  mariner  being  converted 
into  Astoria — not  that  bloody-minded  place  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Oregon,  which  has  come  so  near  bringing  us  to  blows  with  our 
"  ancestors  in  England,"  as  the  worthy  denizens  of  that  quarter 
choose  to  consider  themselves  still,  if  one  can  judge  by  their 
language.  This  Astoria  was  a*  very  different  place,  and  is  one 
of  the  many  suburban  villages  that  are  shooting  up,  like  mush 
rooms  in  a  night,  around  the  great  Commercial  Emporium.  This 
spot  Spike  understood  perfectly,  and  it  was  not  likely  that  he 
should  pass  it  without  communicating  a  portion  o*"  his  knowl- 
edge to  Rose. 

"  There,  Miss  Rose,"  he  said,  with  a  didactic  sort  of  air, 
pointing  with  his  short,  thick  finger  at  the  little  bay  which  was 
just  opening  to  their  view — "  there's  as  neat  a  cove  as  a  craft 
need  bring  up  in.  That  used  to  be  a  capital  place  to  lie  in,  to 
wait  for  a  wind  to  pass  the  Gate  ;  but  it  has  got  to  be  most 
too  public  for  my  taste.  I'm  rural,  I  tell  Mulford,  and  love  to 
get  in  out-of-the-way  berths  with  my  brig,  where  she  can  sew 
salt-meadows,  and  smell  the  clover.  You  never  catch  me  down 
in  any  of  the  crowded  slips,  around  the  markets,  or  anywhere 
in  that  part  of  the  town,  for  I  do  love  country  air.  That's  Hal- 
let's  Cove,  Miss  Rose,  and  a  pretty  anchorage  it  would  be  for  us, 
if  the  wind  and  tide  didn't  sarve  to  take  us  throuo-h  the  Gate." 


JACK     TIER.  85 

"  Are  we  near  the  Gate,  Captain  Spike  ?"  asked  Rose,  the  fine 
bloom  on  her  cheek  lessening  a  little,  under  the  apprehension 
that  formidable  name  is  apt  to  awaken  in  the  breasts  of  the  in- 
experienced. 

"  Half  a  mile,  or  so.  It  begins  just  at  the  other  end  of  this 
island,  on  our  larboard  hand,  and  will  be  all  over  in  about  an- 
other half  mile,  or  so.  It's  no  such  bad  place,  a'ter  all,  is  Hell- 
Gate,  to  them  that's  used  to  it.  I  call  myself  a  pilot  in  Dell- 
Gate,  though  I  have  no  branch." 

"  I  wish,  Captain  Spike,  I  could  teach  you  to  give  that  place 
its  proper  and  polite  name.  We  call  it  AVhirl-Gate  altogether 
now,"  said  the  relict. 

"  Well,  that's  new  to  me,"  cried  Spike.  "  I  have  heard  some 
chicken-mouthed  folk  say  JIurl-Gate,  but  this  is  the  first  time 
I  ever  heard  it  called  Whirl-Gate — they'll  get  it  to  Whirligig- 
Gate  next.  I  don't  think  that  my  old  commander,  Captain 
Budd,  called  the  passage  any  thing  but  honest  up  and  down 
Hell-Gate." 

"  That  he  did — that  he  did — and  all  my  arguments  and  read- 
ing could  not  teach  him  any  better.  I  proved  to  him  that  it 
was  Whirl-Gate,  as  any  one  can  see  that  it  ought  to  be.  It  is 
full  of  whirlpools,  they  say,  and  that  shows  what  Nature  meant 
the  name  to  be." 

"  But,  aunty,"  put  in  Rose,  half  reluctantly,  half  anxious  to 
speak,  "  what  has  gate  to  do  with  whirlpools  ?  You  will  re- 
member it  is  called  a  gate — the  gate  to  that  wicked  place  I 
suppose  is  meant." 

"  Rose,  you  amaze  me  !  How  can  you,  a  young  woman  of 
only  nineteen,  stand  up  for  so  vulgar  a  name  as  Hell-Gate  !" 

"  Do  you  think  it  as  vulgar  as  Hurl-Gate,  aunty  ?  To  me  it 
always  seems  the  most  vulgar  to  be  straining  at  gnats." 

"  Yes,"  said  Spike  sentimentally,  "  I'm  quite  of  Miss  Rose's 
way  of  thinking — straining  at  gnats  is  very  ill-manners,  es- 
pecially at  table.  I  once  knew  a  man  who  strained  in  this 
way,  until  I  thought  he  would  have  choked,  though  it  was  with 


{jfl  jacktiek. 

a  fly  to  be  sure  ;  but  gnats  are  nothing  but  small  flies,  you 
know,  Miss  Rose.  Yes,  I'm  quite  of  your  way  of  thinking,  Miss 
Rose ;  it  is  very  vulgar  to  be  straining  at  gnats  and  flies,  more 
particularly  at  table.  But  you'll  find  no  flies  or  gnats  aboard 
here,  to  be  straining  at,  or  brushing  away,  or  to  annoy  you. 
Stand  by  there,  my  hearties,  and  see  all  clear  to  run  through 
ilell-Gate.  Don't  let  me  catch  you  straining  at  any  thing, 
though  it  should  be  the  fin  of  a  whale  !" 

The  people  forward  looked  at  each  other,  as  they  listened  to 
this  novel  admonition,  though  they  called  out  the  customary 
"  ay,  ay,  sir,"  as  they  went  to  the  sheets,  braces,  and  bowlines. 
To  them  the  passage  of  no  Ilell-Gate  conveyed  the  i<lea  of  any 
particular  terror,  and  with  the  one  they  were  about  to  enter, 
they  were  much  too  familiar  to  care  any  thing  about  it. 

The  brig  was  now  floating  fast,  with  the  tide,  up  abreast  of 
the  east  end  of  Blackwell's,  and  in  two  or  three  more  minutes 
she  would  be  fairly  in  the  Gate.  Spike  was  aft,  where  he  could 
command  a  view  of  every  thing  forward,  and  Mulford  stood  on 
the  quarter-deck,  to  look  after  the  head-braces.  An  old  and 
trustworthy  seaman,  who  acted  as  a  sort  of  boatswain,  had  the 
charge  on  the  forecastle,  and  was  to  tend  the  sheets  and  tack. 
His  name  was  Rove. 

"  See  all  clear,"  called  out  Spike.  "  D'ye  hear  there,  for'ard ! 
I  shall  make  a  half-board  in  the  Gate,  if  the  wind  favor  us,  and 
the  tide  prove  strong  enough  to  hawse  us  to  wind'ard  sufficiently 
to  clear  the  Pot ;  so  mind  your — " 

The  captain  breaking  off  in  the  middle  of  this  harangue,  Mul- 
ford turned  his  head,  in  order  to  see  what  might  be  the  matter. 
There  was  Spike,  levelling  a  spyglass  at  a  boat  that  was  pulling 
swiftly  out  of  the  north  channel,  and  shooting  like  an  arrow 
directly  athwart  the  brig's  bows  into  the  main  passage  of  the 
Gate.     He  stepped  to  the  captain's  elbow. 

"  Just  take  a  look  at  them  chaps,  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  Spike, 
handing  his  mate  the  glass. 


JACK     TIER.  87 

"  They  seem  in  a  hurry,"  answered  Harry,  as  he  adjusted  the 
glass  to  his  eye,  "and  will  go  through  the  Gate  in  less  time  than 
it  will  take  to  mention  the  circumstance." 

"  What  do  you  make  of  them,  sir  ?" 

"  The  little  man  who  calls  himself  Jack  Tier  is  in  the  stern- 
sheets  of  the  boat,  for  one,"  answered  Mulford. 

"  And  the  other,  Harry — what  do  you  make  of  the  other  ?" 

"  It  seems  to  be  the  chap  who  hailed  to  know  if  we  had  a 
pilot.  He  means  to  board  us  at  Biker's  Island,  and  make  us 
pay  pilotage,  whether  we  want  his  services  or  not." 

"  Blast  him  and  his  pilotage  too !  Give  me  the  glass" — 
taking  another  long  look  at  the  boat,  which  by  this  time  was 
glancing,  rather  than  pulling,  nearly  at  right  angles  across  his 
bows.  "  I  want  no  such  pilot  aboard  here,  Mr.  Mulford.  Take 
another  look  at  him — here,  you  can  see  him,  away  on  the  weather 
bow,  already." 

Mulford  did  take  another  look  at  him,  and  this  time  his  ex- 
amination was  longer  and  more  scrutinizing  than  before. 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  cover  him  with  the  glass,"  observed  the 
young  man  ;  "  the  boat  seems  fairly  to  fly." 

"We're  forereaching  too  near  the  Hog's  Back,  Captain  Spike," 
roared  the  boatswain,  from  forward. 

"  Heady  about — hard  a  lee,"  shouted  Spike.  "  Let  all  fly, 
for'ard — help  her  round,  boys,  all  you  can,  and  wait  for  no  or- 
ders !     Bestir  yourselves — bestir  yourselves." 

It  was  time  the  crew  should  be  in  earnest.  While  Spike's 
attention  had  been  thus  diverted  by  the  boat,  the  brig  had  got 
into  the  strongest  of  the  current,  which,  by  setting  her  fast  to 
windward,  had  trebled  the  power  of  the  air,  and  this  was  shoot- 
ing her  over  towards  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  of  the  passage 
on  a  flood  tide.  As  everybody  bestirred  themselves,  however, 
Ae  was  got  round  and  filled  on  the  opposite  tack,  just  in  time 
to  clear  the  rocks.  Spike  breathed  again,  but  his  head  was 
otill  full  of  the  boat.     The  danger  he  had  just  escaped  as  Scylla 


S8  JACK     TIE  K. 

met  him  as  Charybdis.  The  boatswain  again  roared  to  go 
about.  The  order  was  given  as  the  vessel  began  to  pitch  in  a 
heavy  swell.  At  the  next  instant  she  rolled  until  the  water 
came  on  deck,  whirled  with  her  stern  down  the  tide,  and  her 
bows  rose  as  if  she  were  about  to  leap  out  of  water.  The 
Swash  had  hit  the  Pot  Rock. 


JACK     TIER.  39 


CHAPTER   II. 

"  Watch.  If  we  know  him  to  be  a  thief,  shall  we  not  lay  hands  on  him  ? 

"  Dogb.  Truly,  by  our  office,  you  may;  but  I  think  they  that  touch  pitch  will  bo 
defiled  ;  the  most  peaceable  way  for  you,  if  you  do  take  a  thief,  is,  to  let  him  show 
himself  what  he  is,  and  steal  out  of  your  company." 

Much  Ado  About  Nothing. 

"We  left  the  brigantine  of  Captain  Spike  in  a  very  critical 
situation,  and  the  master  himself  in  great  confusion  of  mind. 
A  thorough  seaman,  this  accident  would  never  have  happened, 
but  for  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  boat  and  its  passengers ; 
one  of  whom  appeared  to  be  a  source  of  great  uneasiness  to  him. 
As  might  be  expected,  the  circumstance  of  striking  a  place  as 
dangerous  as  the  Pot  Rock  in  Hell-Gate,  produced  a  great  sen- 
sation on  board  the  vessel.  This  sensation  betrayed  itself  in 
various  ways,  and  according  to  the  characters,  habits,  and  native 
firmness  of  the  parties.  As  for  the  shipmaster's  relict,  she 
seized  hold  of  the  mainmast,  and  screamed  so  loud  and  per- 
severingly,  as  to  cause  the  sensation  to  extend  itself  into  the 
adjacent  and  thriving  village  of  Astoria,  where  it  was  distinctly 
heard  by  divers  of  those  who  dwelt  near  the  water.  Biddy 
Noon  had  her  share  in  this  clamor,  lying  down  on  the  deck  in 
order  to  present  rolling  over,  and  possibly  to  scream  more  at 
her  leisure,  while  Rose  had  sufficient  self-command  to  be  silent, 
though  her  cheeks  lost  their  color. 

Nor  was  there  any  thing  extraordinary  in  females  betraying 
this  alarm,  when  one  remembers  the  somewhat  astounding  signs 
of  danger  by  which  these  persons  were  surrounded.  There  is 
always  something  imposing  in  the  swift  movement  of  a  con- 
siderable body  of  water.  When  this  movement  is  aided  by 
whirlpools  and  the  other  similar  accessories  of  an  interrupted 


40  JACK     TIER. 

current,  it  frequently  becomes  startling,  more  especially  to  thoBO 
who  happen  to  be  on  the  element  itself.  This  is  peculiarly  the 
case  with  the  Pot  Rock,  where,  not  only  does  the  water  roll  and 
roar  as  if  agitated  by  a  mighty  wind,  but  where  it  even  breaks, 
the  foam  seeming  to  glance  up  stream,  in  the  rapid  succession 
of  wave  to  wave.  Had  the  Swash  remained  in  her  terrific  berth 
more  than  a  second  or  two,  she  would  have  proved  what  is 
termed  a  "  total  loss ;"  but  she  did  not.  Happily,  the  Pot  Roi;k 
lies  so  low  that  it  is  not  apt  to  fetch  up  any  thing  of  a  light 
draught  of  water,  and  the  brigantine's  fore-foot  had  just  settled 
on  its  summit,  long  enough  to  cause  the  vessel  to  whirl  round 
and  make  her  obeisance  to  the  place,  when  a  succeeding  swell 
lifted  her  clear,  and  away  she  went  down  stream,  rolling  as  if 
scudding  in  a  gale,  and,  for  a  moment,  under  no  command  what- 
ever. There  lay  another  danger  ahead,  or  it  would  be  better  to 
say  astern,  for  the  brig  was  drifting  stern  foremost ;  and  that 
was  in  an  eddy  under  a  bluff,  which  bluff  lies  at  an  angle  in 
the  reach,  where  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  craft  to  be  cast 
ashore,  after  they  have  passed  all  the  more  imposing  and  more 
visible  dangers  above.  It  was  in  escaping  this  danger,  and  in 
recovering  the  command  of  his  vessel,  that  Spike  now  mani- 
fested the  sort  of  stuff  of  which  he  was  really  made,  in  emer- 
gencies of  this  sort.  The  yards  were  all  sharp  up  when  the 
accident  occurred,  aud  springing  to  the  lee  braces,  just  as  a 
man  winks  when  his  eye  is  menaced,  he  seized  the  weather  fore- 
brace  with  his  own  hands,  and  began  to  round  in  the  yard, 
shouting  out  to  the  man  at  the  wheel  to  "  port  his  helm"  at  the 
same  time.  Some  of  the  people  flew  to  his  assistance,  and  the 
yards  were  not  only  squared,  but  braced  a  little  up  on  the  other 
tack,  in  much  less  time  than  we  have  taken  to  relate  the  evolu- 
tion. Mulford  attended  to  the  main-sheet,  and  succeeded  in 
getting  the  boom  out  in  the  right  direction.  Although  the  wind 
was  in  truth  very  light,  the  velocity  of  the  drift  filled  the  can- 
vas, and  taking  the  arrow-like  current  on  her  lee  bow,  the  Swash, 
like  a  frantic  steed  that  is  alarmed  with  the  wreck  made  by  his 


JACK     TIER.  41 

own  madness,  came  under  command,  and  sheered  out  into  tho 
stream  again,  where  she  could  drift  clear  of  the  apprehended 
danger  astern. 

"  Sound  the  pumps  !"  called  out  Spike  to  Mulford,  the  instant 
he  saw  he  had  regained  his  seat  in  the  saddle.  Harry  sprang 
amidships  to  obey,  and  the  eye  of  every  mariner  in  that  vessel 
was  on  the  young  man,  as,  in  the  midst  of  a  death -like  silence, 
he  performed  this  all-important  duty.  It  was  like  the  physi- 
cian's feeling  the  pulse  of  his  patient  before  he  pronounces  on 
the  degree  of  his  danger. 

"  Well,  sir  ?"  cried  out  Spike,  impatiently,  as  the  rod  reap- 
peared. 

"  All  right,  sir,"  answered  Harry,  cheerfully :  "  the  well  is 
nearly  empty." 

"  Hold  on  a  moment  longer,  and  give  the  water  time  to  find 
its  way  amidships,  if  there  be  any." 

The  mate  remained  perched  up  on  the  pump,  in  order  to 
comply,  while  Spike  and  his  people,  who  now  breathed  more 
freely  again,  improved  the  leisure  to  brace  up  and  haul  aft,  to 
the  new  course. 

"  Biddy,"  said  Mrs.  Budd  considerately,  during  this  pause  in 
the  incidents,  "  you  needn't  scream  any  longer.  The  danger 
seems  to  be  past,  and  you  may  get  up  off  the  deck  now.  See, 
I  have  let  go  of  the  mast.  The  pumps  have  been  sounded,  and 
are  found  tight " 

Biddy,  like  an  obedient  and  respectful  servant,  did  as  directed, 
quite  satisfied  if  the  pumps  were  tight.  It  was  some  little  time, 
to  be  sure,  before  she  was  perfectly  certain  whether  she  were 
alive  or  not ;  but,  once  certain  of  this  circumstance,  her  alarm 
very  sensibly  abated,  and  she  became  reasonable.  As  for  Mul- 
ford, he  dropped  the  sounding-rod  again,  and  had  the  same 
cheering  report  to  make. 

"  The  brig  is  as  tight  as  a  bottle,  sir." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  answered  Spike.  "  I  never  had  such 
a  whirl  in  her  before  in  my  life,  and  I  thought  she  was  going  to 


42  JACK     TIER, 

Btop  and  pass  the  night  there.  That's  the  very  spot  on  which 
'  The  Hussar '  frigate  was  wrecked." 

"  So  I  have  heard,  sir.  But  she  drew  so  much  water  that  she 
hit  slap  against  the  rock,  and  started  a  butt.  We  merely  touch- 
ed on  its  top  with  our  fore-foot,  and  slid  off." 

This  was  the  simple  explanation  of  the  Swash's  escape,  and, 
everybody  being  now  well  assured  that  no  harm  had  been  done, 
things  fell  into  their  old  and  regular  train  again.  As  for  Spike, 
his  gallantry,  notwithstanding,  was  upset  for  some  hours,  and 
glad  enough  was  he  when  he  saw  all  three  of  his  passengers 
quit  the  deck  to  go  below.  Mrs.  Budd's  spirits  had  been  so 
much  agitated,  that  she  told  Rose  she  would  go  down  into  the 
cabin  and  rest  a  few  minutes  on  its  sofa.  We  say  sofa,  for 
that  article  of  furniture,  now-a-days,  is  far  more  common  in 
vessels  than  it  was  thirty  years  ago  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
country. 

"  There,  Mulford,"  growled  Spike,  pointing  ahead  of  the  brig, 
to  an  object  on  the  water  that  was  about  half  a  mile  ahead  of 
them — "  there's  that  bloody  boat — d'ye  see  ?  I  should  like  of 
all  things  to  give  it  the  slip.  There's  a  chap  in  that  boat  I 
don't  like." 

"  I  don't  see  how  that  can  be  very  well  done,  sir,  unless  we 
anchor,  repass  the  Gate  at  the  turn  of  the  tide,  and  go  to  sea  by 
the  way  of  Sandy  Hook." 

"  That  will  never  do.  I've  no  wish  to  be  parading  the  brig 
before  the  town.  You  see,  Mulford,  nothing  can  be  more  inno- 
cent and  proper  than  the  Molly  Swash,  as  you  know  from  having 
sailed  in  her  these  twelve  mouths.  You'll  give  her  that  charac- 
ter, I'll  be  sworn  ?" 

"  I  know  no  harm  of  her,  Captain  Spike,  and  hope  I  never 
shall." 

"  No,  sir — you  know  no  harm  of  her,  nor  does  any  one  else. 
A.  nursing  infant  is  not  more  innocent  than  the  Molly  Swash, 
or  could  have  a  clearer  character,  if  nothing  but  truth  was  said 
of  her.     But  the  world  is  so  much  given  to  lying,  that  one  of 


JACK     TIER.  40 

the  old  saints,  of  whom  we  read  in  the  good  book,  such  at 
Calvin  and  John  Rogers,  would  be  vilified  if  he  lived  in  these 
times.  Then,  it  must  be  owned,  Mr.  Mulford,  whatever  may  tx 
the  raal  innocence  of  the  brig,  she  has  a  most  desperate  wickea 
look." 

"  Why,  yes,  sir — it  must  be  owned  she  is  what  we  sailors  call 
a  wicked-looking  craft.  But  some  of  Uncle  Sam's  cruisers  have 
that  appearance,  also." 

"  I  know  it — I  know  it,  sir,  and  think  nothing  of  looks  my- 
self. Men  are  often  deceived  in  me,  by  my  looks,  which  have 
none  of  your  longshore  softness  about  'em,  perhaps ;  but  my 
mother  used  to  say  I  was  one  of  the  most  tender-hearted  boys 
she  had  ever  heard  spoken  of — like  one  of  the  babes  in  the 
woods,  as  it  might  be.  But  mankind  go  so  much  by  appear- 
ances, that  I  don't  like  to  trust  the  brig  too  much  afore  their 
eyes.  Now,  should  we  be  seen  in  the  lower  bay,  waiting  for  a 
wind,  or  for  the  ebb-tide  to  make,  to  carry  us  over  the  bar,  ten 
to  one  but  some  philotropic  or  other  would  be  off  with  a  com- 
plaint to  the  District  Attorney  that  we  looked  like  a  slaver,  and 
have  us  all  fetched  up  to  be  tried  for  our  lives  as  pirates.  No, 
no — I  like  to  keep  the  brig  in  out-of-the-way  places,  where  she 
can  give  no  offence  to  your  'tropics,  whether  they  be  philos,  or 
of  any  other  sort," 

"  Well,  sir,  we  are  to  the  eastward  of  the  Gate,  and  all's  safe. 
That  boat  cannot  bring  us  up." 

"  You  forget,  Mr.  Mulford,  the  revenue-craft  that  steamed 
up,  on  the  ebb.  That  vessel  must  be  oil*  Sands'  Point  by  this 
time,  and  she  may  hear  something  to  our  disparagement  from 
the  feller  in  the  boat,  and  take  it  into  her  smoky  head  to 
walk  us  back  to  town.  I  wish  we  were  well  to  the  eastward 
of  that  steamer !  But  there's  no  use  in  lamentations.  If 
there  is  really  any  danger,  it's  some  distance  ahead  yet,  thank 
Heaven !" 

"  You  have  no  fears  of  the  man  who  calls  himself  Jack  Tier, 
Captain  Spike  ?" 


44  JACK     TIER 

"  None  in  the  world.  That  feller,  as  1  remember  him,  was  a 
little  bustlin  chap  that  I  kept  in  the  cabin,  as  a  sort  of  stew- 
ard's mate.  There  was  neither  good  nor  harm  in  him,  to  the 
best  of  my  recollection.  But  Josh  can  tell  ns  all  about  him — 
Just  give  Josh  a  call." 

The  best  thing  in  the  known  history  of  Spike  was  the  fact 
that  his  steward  had  sailed  with  him  for  more  than  twenty 
years.  Where  he  had  picked  up  Josh,  no  one  could  say  but 
Josh  and  himself,  and  neither  chose  to  be  very  communicative 
on  the  subject.  But  Josh  had  certainly  been  with  him  as  long 
as  he  had  sailed  the  Swash,  and  that  was  from  a  time  actually 
anterior  to  the  birth  of  Mulford.  The  mate  soon  had  the  negro 
in  the  council. 

"  I  say,  Josh,"  asked  Spike,  "  do  you  happen  to  remember 
such  a  hand  aboard  here  as  one  Jack  Tier  ?" 

"  Lor'  bless  you,  yes,  sir — 'members  he  as  well  as  I  do  the  pea 
soup  that  was  burnt,  and  which  you  'trowed  all  over  him,  to 
scald  him  for  punishment." 

"  I've  had  to  do  that  so  often,  to  one  careless  fellow  or  other, 
that  the  circumstance  doesn't  recall  the  man.  I  remember  him, 
but  not  as  clear  as  I  could  wish.  How  long  did  he  sail  with 
us?" 

"  Sebberal  v'y'ge,  sir,  and  got  left  ashore  down  on  the  Main, 
one  night,  when  'e  boat  were  obliged  to  shove  off  in  a  hurry. 
Yes,  'members  little  Jack  right  well,  I  does." 

"  Did  you  see  the  man  that  spoke  us  from  the  wharf,  and  hailed 
for  this  very  Jack  Tier  ?" 

"  I  see'd  a  man,  sir,  dat  was  won'erful  Jack  Tier  built  like, 
sir,  but  I  didn't  hear  the  conversation,  habbin'  the  ladies  to 
'tend  to.  But  Jack  was  oncommon  short  in  his  floor  tim- 
bers, sir,  and  had  no  length  of  keel  at  all.  His  beam  was 
won'erful  for  his  length,  altogedder — what  you  call  jolly-boat,  or 
oum-boat  build,  and  was  only  good  afore  'e  wind,  Cap'n  Spike." 

"  Was  he  good  for  any  thing  aboard  ship,  Josh  ?  Worth 
heaving-to  for,  should  he  try  to  get  aboard  of  us  again  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  45 

"  Why,  sir,  I  can't  say  much  for  him  in  dat  fashion.  Jack 
was  handy  in  de  cabin,  and  capital  feller  to  cany  soup  from 
the  gaily,  aft.  You  see,  sir,  he  was  so  low-rigged  that  de 
brig's  lurchin'  and  pitchin'  couldn't  get  him  off  his  pins,  and  he 
stood  up  like  a  church  in  de  heaviest  wea'der.  Yes,  sir,  Jack 
was  right  good  for  daV 

Spike  mused  a  moment — then  he  rolled  the  tobacco  over  in 
his  mouth,  and  added,  in  the  way  a  man  speaks  when  his  mind 
is  made  up — 

"  Ay,  ay  !  I  see  into  the  fellow.  He'll  make  a  handy  lady's 
maid,  and  we  want  such  a  chap  just  now.  It's  better  to  have 
an  old  friend  aboard,  than  to  be  pickin'  up  strangers,  'long 
shore.  So,  should  this  Jack  Tier  come  off  to  us,  from  any  of 
the  islands  or  points  ahead,  Mr.  Mulford,  you'll  round-to  and 
take  him  aboard.  As  for  the  steamer,  if  she  will  only  pass  out 
into  the  Sound  where  there's  room,  it  shall  go  hard  with  us  but 
I  get  to  the  eastward  of  her,  without  speaking.  On  the  other 
hand,  should  she  anchor  this  side  of  the  fort,  I'll  not  attempt 
to  pass  her.  There  is  deep  water  inside  of  most  of  the  islands, 
I  know,  and  we'll  try  and  dodge  her  in  that  way,  if  no  better 
offer.  I've  no  more  reason  than  another  craft  to  fear  a  govern- 
ment vessel,  but  the  sight  of  one  of  them  makes  me  oncom- 
fortable— that's  all." 

Mulford  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  remained  silent,  perceiv- 
ing that  his  commander  was  not  disposed  to  pursue  the  subject 
any  further.  In  the  mean  time,  the  brig  had  passed  beyond 
the  influence  of  the  bluff,  and  was  beginning  to  feel  a  stronger 
breeze,  that  was  coming  down  the  wide  opening  of  Flushing 
Bay.  As  the  tide  still  continued  strong  in  her  favor,  and  her 
motion  through  the  water  was  getting  to  be  four  or  five  knots, 
there  was  every  prospect  of  her  soon  reaching  Whitestone,  the 
point  where  the  tides  meet,  and  where  it  would  become  neces- 
sary to  anchor ;  unless,  indeed,  the  wind,  which  was  now 
getting  to  the  southward  and  eastward,  should  come  round 
more  to  the  south.     All  this  Spike  and  his  mate  discussed  to 


46  JACK     TIEK. 

gether,  while  the  people  were  clearing  the  decks,  and  making 
the  preparations  that  are  customary  on  board  a  vessel  before 
she  gets  into  rough  water. 

By  this  time  it  was  ascertained  that  the  brig  had  received  no 
damage  by  her  salute  of  the  Pot  Rock,  and  every  trace  of  unea- 
siness on  that  account  was  removed.  But  Spike  kept  harping 
on  the  boat,  and  "  the  pilot-looking  chap  who  was  in  her."  As 
they  passed  Riker's  Island,  all  hands  expected  a  boat  would 
put  off  with  a  pilot,  or  to  demand  pilotage ;  but  none  came,  and 
the  Swash  now  seemed  released  from  all  her  present  dangers, 
unless  some  might  still  be  connected  with  the  revenue-steamer. 
To  retard  her  advance,  however,  the  wind  came  out  a  smart 
working  breeze  from  the  southward  and  eastward,  compelling 
her  to  make  "  long  legs  and  short  ones"  on  her  way  towards 
Whitestone. 

"  This  is  beating  the  wind,  Rosy  dear,"  said  Mrs.  Budd,  com- 
placently, she  and  her  niece  having  returned  to  the  deck  a  few 
minutes  after  this  change  had  taken  place.  "  Your  respected 
uncle  did  a  great  deal  of  this  in  his  time,  and  was  very  success- 
ful in  it.  I  have  heard  him  say,  that  in  one  of  his  voyages 
between  Liverpool  and  New  York,  he  beat  the  wind  by  a  whole 
fortnight,  everybody  talking  of  it  in  the  insurance  offices,  as  if  it 
was  a  miracle." 

"  Ay,  ay,  Madam  Budd,"  put  in  Spike,  "  Til  answer  for  that. 
They're  desperate  talkers  in  and  about  them  there  insurance 
offices  in  Wall-street.  Great  gossips  be  they,  and  they  think 
they  know  every  thing.  Now  just  because  this  brig  is  a  little 
old  or  so,  and  was  built  for  a  privateer  in  the  last  war,  they'd 
refuse  to  rate  her  as  even  B,  No.  2,  and  my  blessing  on  'em." 

"  Yes,  B,  No.  2,  that's  just  what  your  dear  uncle  used  to  call 
me,  Rosy — his  charming  B,  No.  2,  or  Betsy,  No.  2 ;  particu- 
larly when  he  was  in  a  loving  mood.  Captain  Spike,  did  you 
ever  beat  the  wind  in  a  long  voyage  ?" 

"  I  can't  say  I  ever  did,  Mrs.  Budd,"  answered  Spike,  looking 
grimly  around,  to  ascertain  if  any  one  dared  to  smile  at  his  pas- 


JACK     TIER.  47 

senger's  mistake ;  "  especially  for  so  long  a  pull  as  from  New 
York  to  Liverpool." 

"  Then  your  uncle  used  to  boast  of  The  Rose  In  Bloom's  wear- 
ing and  attacking.  She  would  attack  any  thing  that  came  in 
her  way,  no  matter  who ;  and  as  for  wearing,  I  think  he  once 
told  me  she  would  wear  just  what  she  had  a  mind  to,  like  any 
human  being." 

Rose  was  a  little  mystified,  but  she  looked  vexed  at  the  same 
time,  as  if  she  distrusted  all  was  not  right. 

"I  remember  all  my  sea  education,"  continued  the  unsus- 
pecting widow,  "  as  if  it  had  been  learnt  yesterday.  Beating  the 
wind  and  attacking  ship,  my  poor  Mr.  Budd  used  to  say,  were 
nice  manoeuvres,  and  required  most  of  his  tactics,  especially  in 
heavy  weather.  Did  you  know,  Rosy  dear,  that  sailors  weigh 
the  weather,  and  know  when  it  is  heavy  and  when  it  is  light  ?" 

"  I  did  not,  aunt ;  nor  do  I  understand  now  how  it  can  very 
well  be  done." 

"  Oh !  child,  before  you  have  been  at  sea  a  week,  you  will 
learn  so  many  things  that  are  new,  and  get  so  many  ideas  of 
which  you  never  had  any  notion  before,  that  you'll  not  be  the 
same  person.  My  captain  had  an  instrument  he  called  a  ther- 
mometer, and  with  that  he  used  to  weigh  the  weather,  and  then 
he  would  write  down  in  a  log-book  '  to-day,  heavy  weather,  or 
to-morrow,  light  weather,'  just  as  it  happened,  and  that  helped 
him  mightily  along  in  his  voyages." 

"  Mrs.  Budd  has  merely  mistaken  the  name  of  the  instrument 
— the  '  barometer'  is  what  she  wished  to  say,"  put  in  Mulford, 
opportunely. 

Rose  looked  grateful,  as  well  as  relieved.  Though  profoundly 
ignorant  on  these  subjects  herself,  she  had  always  suspected  her 
aunt's  knowledge.  It  was,  consequently,  grateful  to  her  to  ascer- 
tain that,  in  this  instance,  the  old  lady's  mistake  had  been  so  trifling. 

"  Well,  it  may  have  been  the  barometer,  for  I  know  he  had 
them  both,"  resumed  the  aunt.  "  Barometer,  or  thermometer 
it  don't  make  any  great  difference;  or  quadrant,  or  sextant. 


4.8  JACK     TIER, 

They  are  all  instruments,  and  sometimes  he  used  one,  and  some- 
times another.  Sailors  take  on  board  the  sun,  too,  and  have 
an  instrument  for  that,  as  well  as  one  to  weigh  the  weather 
with.  Sometimes  they  take  on  board  the  stars,  and  the  moon, 
and  '  fill  their  ships  with  the  heavenly  bodies,'  as  I've  heard  my 
dear  husband  say,  again  and  again !  But  the  most  curious 
thing  at  sea,  as  all  sailors  tell  me,  is  crossing  the  line,  and  I  do 
hope  we  shall  cross  the  line,  Rosy,  that  you  and  I  may  see  it " 

"  What  is  the  line,  aunty,  and  how  do  vessels  cross  it  ?" 

"  The  line,  my  dear,  is  a  place  in  the  ocean  where  the  earth 
is  divided  into  two  parts,  one  part  being  called  the  North  Pole, 
and  the  other  part  the  South  Pole.  Neptune  lives  near  this 
line,  and  he  allows  no  vessel  to  go  out  of  one  pole  into  the  other, 
without  paying  it  a  visit.  Never,  never ! — he  would  as  soon 
think  of  living  on  dry  land  as  think  of  letting  even  a  canoe  pass, 
without  visiting  it." 

"  Do  you  suppose  there  is  such  a  being,  really,  as  Neptune, 
aunty  ?" 

"  To  be  sure  I  do ;  he  is  king  of  the  sea.  Why  shouldn't 
there  be  ?     The  sea  must  have  a  king,  as  well  as  the  land." 

"  The  sea  may  be  a  republic,  aunty,  like  this  country ;  then, 
no  king  is  necessary.  I  have  always  supposed  Neptune  to  be 
an  imaginary  being." 

"  Oh  that's  impossible — the  sea  is  no  republic ;  there  are  but 
two  republics,  America  and  Texas.  I've  heard  that  the  sea  is 
a  highway,  it  is  true — '  the  highway  of  nations,'  I  believe  it  is 
called,  and  that  must  mean  something  particular.  But  my  poor 
Mr.  Budd  always  told  me  that  Neptune  was  king  of  the  seas, 
and  he  was  always  so  accurate,  you  might  depend  on  every 
thing  he  said.  Why,  he  called  his  last  Newfoundland  dog 
Neptune ;  and  do  you  think,  Rosy,  that  your  dear  uncle  would 
call  his  dog  after  an  imaginary  being — and  he  a  man  to  beat 
the  wind,  and  attack  ship,  and  take  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars 
aboard  !  No,  no,  child  ;  fanciful  folk  may  see  imaginary  beings, 
but  solid  folk  see  solid  beings." 


JACK     TIER.  49 

Even  Spike  was  dumfounded  at  this,  and  there  is  no  knowing 
what  he  might  have  said,  had  not  an  old  sea-dog,  who  had  just 
come  out  of  the  fore-topmast  cross-trees,  waddled  aft,  and,  hitching 
up  his  trowsers  with  one  hand  while  he  touched  his  hat  with 
the  other,  said  with  immovable  gravity — 

"  The  revenue-steamer  has  brought  up  just  under  the  fort, 
Captain  Spike." 

"  How  do  you  know  that,  Bill  ?"  demanded  the  captain,  with 
a  rapidity  that  showed  how  completely  Mrs.  Budd  and  all  her 
absurdities  -were  momentarily  forgotten. 

"  I  was  up  on  the  fore-topgallant  yard,  sir,  a  bit  ago,  just  to 
look  to  the  strap  of  the  jewel-block,  which  wants  some  sarvice 
on  it,  and  I  see'd  her  over  the  land,  blowiu'  off  steam  and  takin' 
in  her  kites.  Afore  I  got  out  of  the  cross-trees,  she  was  head 
to  wind  under  bare-poles,  and  if  she  hadn't  anchored,  she  was 
about  to  do  so.  I'm  sartin  'twas  she,  sir,  and  that  she  was  about 
to  bring  up." 

Spike  gave  a  long,  low  whistle,  after  his  fashion,  and  he 
walked  away  from  the  females,  with  the  air  of  a  man  who 
wanted  room  to  think  in.     Half  a  minute  later,  he  called  out — 

"  Stand  by  to  shorten  sail,  boys.  Man  fore-clew-garnets,  fly- 
ing jib  down  haul,  topgallant  sheets,  and  gaff-topsail  gear.  In 
with  'em  all,  my  lads — in  with  every  thing,  with  a  will." 

An  order  to  deal  with  the  canvas  in  any  way  on  board  ship, 
immediately  commands  the  whole  attention  of  all  whose  duty  it 
is  to  attend  to  such  matters,  and  there  was  an  end  of  all  dis- 
course while  the  Swash  was  shortening  sail.  Everybody  un- 
derstood, too,  that  it  was  to  gain  time,  and  prevent  the  brig 
from  reaching  Throg's  Neck  sooner  than  was  desirable. 

"  Keep  the  brig  off,"  called  out  Spike,  "  and  let  her  ware — we're 
too  busy  to  tack  just  now." 

The  man  at  the  wheel  knew  very  well  what  was  wanted,  and 
he  put  his  helm  up,  instead  of  putting  it  down,  as  he  might 
have  done  without  this  injunction.  As  this  change  brought  the 
brig  before  the  wind,  and  Spike  was  in  no  hurry  to  luff  up  on 

3 


50  JACK     TIER. 

the  other  tack,  the  Swash  soon  ran  over  a  mile  of  the  distance 
she  had  already  made,  putting  her  back  that  much  on  her  way 
to  the  Neck.  It  is  out  of  our  power  to  say  what  the  people  of 
the  different  craft  in  sight  thought  of  all  this,  but  an  opportu- 
nity soon  offered  of  putting  them  on  a  wrong  scent.  A  large 
coasting  schooner,  carrying  every  thing  that  would  draw  on  a 
wind,  came  sweeping  under  the  stern  of  the  Swash,  and  hailed. 

"  lias  any  thing  happened  on  board  that  brig  ?"  demanded 
her  master. 

"  Man  overboard,"  answered  Spike  ;  "  you  haven't  seen  his 
hat,  have  you  ?" 

"  No,  no,"  came  back,  just  as  the  schooner,  in  her  onward 
course,  swept  beyond  the  reach  of  the  voice.  Her  people 
collected  together,  and  one  or  two  ran  up  the  rigging  a  short 
distance,  stretching  their  necks,  on  the  look-out  for  the  "  poor 
fellow,"  but  they  were  soon  called  down  to  "  'bout  ship."  In 
less  than  five  minutes,  another  vessel,  a  rakish  coasting  sloop, 
came  within  hail. 

"Didn't  that  brig  strike  the  Pot  Rock,  in  passing  the  Gate?" 
demanded  her  captain. 

"  Ay,  ay  !  and  a  devil  of  a  rap  she  got,  too." 

This  satisfied  him  ;  there  being  nothing  remarkable  in  a  ves- 
sel's acting  strangely  that  had  hit  the  Pot  Rock  in  passing  Hell- 
Gate. 

"  I  think  we  may  get  in  our  mainsail  on  the  strength  of  this, 
Mr.  Mulford,"  said  Spike.  "  There  can  be  nothing  oncommon 
in  a  craft's  shortening  sail,  that  has  a  man  overboard,  and  which 
has  hit  the  Pot  Rock.  I  wonder  I  never  thought  of  all  this 
before." 

"  Here  is  a  skiff  trying  to  get  alongside  of  us,  Captain  Spike," 
called  out  the  boatswain. 

"  Skiff  be  d— d  !  I  want  no  skiff  here." 

"  The  man  that  calls  himself  Jack  Tier  is  in  her,  sir." 

"  The  d — 1  he  is  !"  cried  Spike,  springing  over  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  deck  to  take  a  look  for  himself.     To  his  infinite  satis- 


JACK     TIER.  51 

faction  he  perceived,  that  Tier  was  alone  in  the  skiff,  with  the 
exception  of  a  negro,  who  pulled  its  sculls,  and  that  this  was  a 
very  different  boat  from  that  which  had  glanced  through  Hell- 
Gate,  like  an  arrow  darting  from  its  bow. 

"  Luff,  and  shake  your  topsails,"  called  out  Spike.  "  Get  a 
rope  there  to  throw  to  this  skiff." 

The  orders  were  obeyed,  and  Jack  Tier,  with  his  clothes-bag, 
was  soon  on  the  deck  of  the  Swash.  As  for  the  skiff  and  the 
negro,  they  were  cast  adrift  the  instant  the  latter  had  received 
his  quarter.  The  meeting  between  Spike  and  his  quondam 
steward's  mate  was  a  little  remarkable.  Each  stood  looking  in- 
tently at  the  other,  as  if  to  note  the  changes  which  time  had 
made.  We  cannot  say  that  Spike's  hard,  red,  selfish  counte- 
nance betrayed  any  great  feeling,  though  such  was  not  the  case 
with  Jack  Tier's.  The  last,  a  lymphatic,  puffy  sort  of  a  person 
at  the  best,  seemed  really  a  little  touched,  and  he  either  actually 
brushed  a  tear  from  his  eye,  or  he  affected  so  to  do. 

"  So,  you  are  my  old  shipmate,  Jack  Tier,  are  ye  ?"  ex- 
claimed Spike,  in  a  half-patronizing,  half-hesitating  way ;  "  and 
you  want  to  try  the  old  craft  ag'in.  Give  us  a  leaf  of  your  log, 
and  let  me  know  where  you  have  been  this  many  a  day,  and 
what  you  have  been  about  ?  Keep  the  brig  off,  Mr.  Mulford. 
We  are  in  no  particular  hurry  to  reach  Throg's,  you'll  remem- 
ber, sir." 

Tier  gave  an  account  of  his  proceedings,  which  could  have 
no  interest  with  the  reader.  His  narrative  was  any  thing  but 
very  clear,  and  it  was  delivered  in  a  cracked,  octave  sort  of  a 
voice,  such  as  little  dapper  people  not  unfrequently  enjoy — tones 
between  those  of  a  man  and  a  boy.  The  substance  of  the  whole 
story  was  this.  Tier  had  been  left  ashore,  as  sometimes  hap- 
pens to  sailors,  and,  by  necessary  connection,  was  left  to  shift 
for  himself.  After  making  some  vain  endeavors  to  rejoin  his 
brig,  he  had  shipped  in  one  vessel  after  another,  until  he  ac- 
cidentally found  himself  in  the  port  of  New  York,  at  the  same 
time  as  the  Swash.      He  know'd  he  never  should  be  truly 


52  J   A   C   li      T  1   E  R  . 

happy  ag'in  until  be  could  once  more  get  aboard  the  old  hussy, 
and  had  hurried  up  to  the  wharf,  where  he  understood  the  brig 
was  lying.  As  he  came  in  sight,  he  saw  she  was  about  to 
cast  off,  and,  dropping  his  clothes-bag,  he  had  made  the  best 
of  his  way  to  the  wharf,  where  the  conversation  passed  that  has 
been  related. 

"  The  gentleman  on  the  wharf  was  about  to  take  boat,  to 
go  through  the  Gate,"  continued  Tier,  "  and  so  I  begs  a  passage 
of  him.  lie  was  good-natured  enough  to  wait  until  1  could 
find  my  bag,  and  as  soon  a'terwards  as  the  men  could  get  their 
grog  we  shoved  off.  The  Molly  was  just  getting  in  behind 
Blackwell's  as  we  left  the  wharf,  and,  having  four  good  oars, 
and  the  shortest  road,  we  come  out  into  the  Gate  just  ahead  on 
you.  My  eye !  what  a  place  that  is  to  go  through  in  a  boat, 
and  on  a  strong  flood  !  The  gentleman,  who  watched  the  brig 
as  a  cat  watches  a  mouse,  says  you  struck  on  the  Pot,  as  he 
called  it,  but  I  says  '  no,'  for  the  Molly  Swash  was  never  know'd 
to  hit  rock  or  shoal  in  my  time  aboard  her." 

"  And  where  did  you  quit  that  gentleman,  and  what  has  be- 
come of  him  ?"  asked  Spike. 

"  lie  put  me  ashore  on  that  point  above  us,  where  I  see'd  a 
jiifro-er  with  his  skiff,  who  I  thought  would  be  willin'  to  'arn  his 
quarter  by  giving  me  a  cast  alongside.  So  here  I  am,  and  a 
long  pull  I've  had  to  get  here." 

As  this  was  said,  Jack  removed  his  hat  and  wiped  his  brow 
with  a  handkerchief,  which,  if  it  had  never  seen  better  days,  had 
doubtless  been  cleaner.  After  this,  he  looked  about  him,  with 
an  air  not  entirely  free  from  exultation. 

This  conversation  had  taken  place  in  the  gangway,  a  some- 
what public  place,  and  Spike  beckoned  to  his  recruit  to  walk 
aft,  where  he  might  be  questioned  without  being  overheard. 

"  What  became  of  the  gentleman  in  the  boat,  as  you  call  him?" 
demanded  Spike. 

"  He  pulled  ahead,  seeming  to  be  in  a  hurry." 

"  Do  you  know  who  he  was  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  63 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.  I  never  saw  the  man  before,  and  be  didn't 
tell  me  bis  business,  sir." 

"  Had  be  any  thing  like  a  silver  oar  about  him." 

"  I  saw  nothing  of  the  sort,  Captain  Spike,  and  knows  nothing 
consaruing  bim." 

"  What  sort  of  a  boat  was  he  in,  and  where  did  he  get  it  ?" 

"  Well,  as  to  the  boat,  sir,  I  can  say  a  word,  seein'  it  was  so 
much  to  my  mind,  aud  pulled  so  wonderful  smart.  It  was  a 
light  ship's  yawl,  with  four  oars,  and  came  round  the  Hook  just 
a'ter  you  bad  got  the  brig's  head  round  to  the  eastward.  You 
must  have  seen  it,  I  should  think,  though  it  kept  close  in  with 
the  wharves,  as  if  it  wished  to  be  snug." 

"  Then  the  gentleman,  as  you  call  him,  expected  that  very 
boat  to  come  and  take  him  off?" 

"  I  suppose  so,  sir,  because  it  did  come  and  take  him  off. 
That's  all  I  knows  about  it." 

"  Had  you  no  jaw  with  the  gentleman  ?  You  wasn't  mum 
the  whole  time  you  was  in  the  boat  with  him  ?" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,  sir.  Silence  and  I  doesn't  agree  together 
long,  and  so  we  talked  most  of  the  time." 

"  And  what  did  the  stranger  saj*  of  the  brig  ?" 

"  Lord,  sir,  he  catechized  me  like  as  if  I  had  been  a  child  at 
Sunday-school.  He  asked  me  how  long  I  had  sailed  in  her ; 
what  ports  we'd  visited,  and  what  trade  we'd  been  in.  You 
can't  think  the  sight  of  questions  he  put,  and  how  cur'ous  he 
was  for  the  answers." 

"  And  what  did  you  tell  him  in  your  answers  ?  You  said 
nothin'  about  our  call  down  on  the  Spanish  Main,  the  time  vou 
were  left  ashore,  I  hope,  Jack  ?" 

"  Not  I,  sir.  I  played  him  off  surprisin'ly.  He  got  nothin' 
to  count  upon  out  of  me.  Though  I  do  owe  the  Molly  Swash 
a  grudge,  I'm  not  goin'  to  betray  her." 

"  You  owe  the  Molly  Swash  a  grudge  !  Have  I  taken  an 
enemy  on  board  her,  then  ?" 

Jack  started,  and  seemed  sorry  he  had  said  so  much ;  while 


6-1  JACK     TIER. 

Spike  eyed  him  keenly.  But  the  answer  set  all  right.  It  was 
not  given,  however,  without  a  moment  for  recollection. 

"  Oh,  you  knows  what  I  mean,  sir.  I  owe  the  old  hussy  a 
grudge  for  having  desarted  me  like ;  hut  it's  only  a  love  quarrel 
atween  us.  The  old  Molly  will  never  come  to  harm  by  my 
means." 

"  I  hope  not,  Jack.  The  man  that  wrongs  the  craft  he  sails 
in  can  never  be  a  true-hearted  sailor.  Stick  by  your  ship  in  all 
weathers  is  my  rule,  and  a  good  rule  it  is  to  go  by.  But  what 
did  you  tell  the  stranger  ?" 

"  Oh  !  I  told  him  I'd  been  six  v'y'ges  in  the  brig.  The  first 
was  to  Madagascar — " 

"  The  d — 1  you  did  !     Was  he  soft  enough  to  believe  that  ?" 

"  That's  more  than  I  knows,  sir.  I  can  only  tell  you  what  I 
said;  I  don't  pretend  to  know  how  much  he  believed." 

"JJeave  ahead — what  next?" 

"Then  I  told  him  we  went  to  Kamschatka  for  gold-dust  ann 
ivory." 

"  Whe-e-ew  !     What  did  the  man  say  to  that  ?" 

"  Why,  he  smiled  a  bit,  and  a'ter  that  he  seemed  more  cutoup 
than  ever  to  hear  all  about  it.  I  told  him  my  third  v'y'ge  wa* 
to  Canton,  with  a  cargo  of  broom-corn,  where  we  took  in 
salmon  and  dun-fish  for  home.  A'ter  that  we  went  to  Norway 
with  ice,  and  brought  back  silks  and  money.  Our  next  run  was 
to  the  Havana,  with  salt  and  'nips — " 

"  'Nips  !     AVhat  the  devil  be  they  ?" 

"  Turnips,  you  knows,  sir.  We  always  calls  'em  'nips  m 
cargo.  At  the  Havana  I  told  him  we  took  in  leather  and  jerked 
beef,  and  came  home.  Oh  !  he  got  nothin'  from  me,  Captain 
Spike,  that'll  ever  do  the  brig  a  morsel  of  harm." 

"  I  am  glad  of  that,  Jack.  You  must  know  enough  of  the 
seas  to  understand  that  a  close  mouth  is  sometimes  better  for  h 
vessel  than  a  clean  bill  of  health.  Was  there  nothing  said  about 
the  revenue  steamer  ?" 

"Now  you  name  her,  sir,  I  believe  there  was.     Ay,  ay,  sir, 


JACK     TIEK,  i>5 

the  geutleinan  did  say,  if  the  steamer  fetihed  up  to  the  west- 
ward of  the  fort,  that  he  should  overhaul  her  without  difficulty, 
on  this  flood." 

"  That'll  do,  Jack — that'll  do,  my  honest  fellow.  Go  below, 
and  tell  Josh  to  take  you  into  the  cabin  again,  as  steward's 
mate.  You're  rather  too  Dutch  built,  in  your  old  age,  to  do 
much  aloft." 

One  can  hardly  say  whether  Jack  received  this  remark  as 
complimentary,  or  not.  lie  looked  a  little  glum,  for  a  man 
may  be  as  round  as  a  barrel,  and  wish  to  be  thought  genteel 
and  slender ;  but  he  went  below,  in  quest  of  Josh,  without 
making  any  reply. 

The  succeeding  movements  of  Spike  appeared  to  be  much 
influenced  by  what  he  had  just  heard.  He  kept  the  brig  under 
short  canvas  for  near  two  hours,  sheering  about  in  the  same 
place,  taking  care  to  tell  every  thing  which  spoke  him  that  he 
had  lost  a  man  overboard.  In  this  way,  not  only  the  tide,  but 
the  day  itself,  was  nearly  spent.  About  the  time  the  former 
began  to  lose  its  strength,  however,  the  fore-course  and  the 
mainsail  were  got  on  the  brigantine,  with  the  intention  of 
working  her  up  towards  "Whitestoue,  where  the  tides  meet, 
and  near  which  the  revenue  steamer  was  known  to  be  anchor 
ed.  We  say  near,  though  it  was,  in  fact,  a  mile  or  two  more 
to  the  eastward,  and  close  to  the  extremity  of  the  Point. 

Notwithstanding  these  demonstrations  of  a  wish  to  work  to 
windward,  Spike  was  really  in  no  hurry.  He  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  pass  the  steamer  in  the  dark,  if  possible,  and  the  night 
promised  to  favor  him ;  but,  in  order  to  do  this,  it  might  be 
necessary  not  to  come  in  sight  of  her  at  all ;  or,  at  least,  not 
until  the  obscurity  should  in  some  measure  conceal  his  rig 
and  character.  In  consequence  of  this  plan,  the  Swash 
made  no  great  progress,  even  after  she  had  got  sail  on  her. 
on  her  old  course.  The  wind  lessened,  too,  after  the  sun 
went  down,  though  it  still  hung  to  the  eastward,  or  nearly 
ahead.     As  the  tide  gradually  lost  its  force,  moreover,  the  set 


56  JACK     TIER, 

to  windward  became  less  and  less,  until  it  finally  disappeared 
altogether. 

There  is  necessarily  a  short  reach  in  this  passage,  where  it  is 
always  slack  water,  so  far  as  current  is  concerned.  This  is  pre- 
cisely where  the  tides  meet,  or,  as  has  been  intimated,  at  White- 
stone,  which  is  somewhat  more  than  a  mile  to  the  westward  of 
Throgmorton's  Neck,  near  the  point  of  which  stands  Fort 
Schuyler,  one  of  the  works  recently  erected  for  the  defence  of 
New  York.  Off  the  pitch  of  the  point,  nearly  mid-channel, 
had  the  steamer  anchored,  a  fact  of  which  Spike  had  made 
certain,  by  going  aloft  himself,  and  reconnoitering  her  over  the 
land,  before  it  had  got  to  be  too  dark  to  do  so.  He  entertained 
no  manner  of  doubt  that  this  vessel  was  in  waiting  for  him, 
and  he  well  kneAV  there  was  good  reason  for  it ;  but  he  would 
not  return  and  attempt  the  passage  to  sea  by  way  of  Sandy 
Hook.  His  manner  of  regarding  the  whole  matter  was  cool 
and  judicious.  The  distance  to  the  Hook  was  too  great  to  be 
made  in  such  short  nights  ere  the  return  of  day,  and  he  had  no 
manner  of  doubt  he  was  watched  for  in  that  direction,  as  well  as 
in  this.  Then  he  was  particularly  unwilling  to  show  his  craft 
at  all  in  front  of  the  town,  even  in  the  night.  Moreover,  he  had 
ways  of  his  own  for  effecting  his  purposes,  and  this  was  the  very 
spot  and  time  to  put  them  in  execution. 

While  these  things  were  floating  in  his  mind,  Mrs.  Budd  and 
her  handsome  niece  were  making  preparations  for  passing  the 
night,  aided  by  Biddy  Noon.  The  old  lady  was  factotum,  or 
factota,  as  it  might  be  most  classical  to  call  her,  though  we  are 
entirely  without  authorities  on  the  subject,  and  was  just  as  self- 
complacent  and  ambitious  of  seawomanship  below  decks,  as  she 
had  been  aboveboard.  The  effect,  however,  gave  Spike  great 
satisfaction,  since  it  kept  her  out  of  sight,  and  left  him  more  at 
liberty  to  carry  out  his  own  plans.  About  nine,  however,  the 
good  woman  came  on  deck,  intending  to  take  a  look  at  the 
weather,  like  a  skilful  marineress  as  she  was,  before  she  turned 
in.     Not  a  little  was  she  astonished  at  what  she  then  and  there 


JACK     TIEK. 


57 


beheld,  as  she  whispered  to  Rose  and  Biddy,  both  of  whom  stuck 
close  to  her  side,  feeling  the  want  of  good  pilotage,  no  doubt,  in 
strange  waters. 

The  Molly  Swash  was  still  under  her  canvas,  though  very 
little  sufficed  for  her  present  purposes.  She  was  directly  off 
Whitestone,  and  was  making  easy  stretches  across  the  passage, 
or  river,  as  it  is  called,  having  nothing  set  but  her  huge  fore- 
and-aft  mainsail  and  the  jib.  Under  this  sail  she  worked  like 
a  top,  and  Spike  sometimes  fancied  she  travelled  too  fast  for  his 
purposes,  the  night  air  having  thickened  the  canvas  as  usual, 
until  it  "  held  the  wind  as  a  bottle  holds  water;"  There  was 
nothing  in  this,  however,  to  attract  the  particular  attention  of 
the  shipmaster's  widow,  a  sail,  more  or  less,  being  connected 
with  observation  much  too  critical  for  her  schooling,  nice  as  the 
last  had  been.  She  was  surprised  to  find  the  men  stripping  the 
brio"  forward,  and  converting  her  into  a  schooner.  Nor  was  this 
done  in  a  loose  and  slovenly  manner,  under  favor  of  the  obscu- 
rity. On  the  contrary,  it  was  so  well  executed  that  it  might 
have  deceived  even  a  seaman  under  a  noonday  sun,  provided 
the  vessel  were  a  mile  or  two  distant.  The  manner  in  which 
the  metamorphosis  was  made  was  as  follows  :  the  studding-sail 
booms  had  been  taken  off  the  topsail-yard,  in  order  to  shorten 
it  to  the  eye,  and  the  yard  itself  was  swayed  up  about  half-mast, 
to  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  schooner's  fore-yard.  The  brig's 
real  lower  yard  was  lowered  on  the  bulwarks,  while  her  royal 
yard  was  sent  down  altogether,  and  the  topgallant-mast  was 
lowered  until  the  heel  rested  on  the  topsail  yard,  all  of  which, 
in  the  night,  gave  the  gear  forward  very  much  the  appearance 
of  that  of  a  fore-topsail  schooner,  instead  of  that  of  a  half-rigged 
brig,  as  the  craft  really  was.  As  the  vessel  carried  a  try-sail  on 
her  foremast,  it  answered  very  well,  in  the  dark,  to  represent  a 
schooner's  foresail.  Several  other  little  dispositions  of  this  na- 
ture were  made,  about  which  it  might  weary  the  uninitiated  to 
read,  but  which  will  readily  suggest  themselves  to  the  mind  of 
a  sailor. 


58  JACK     TIER, 

These  alterations  were  far  advanced  when  the  females  reap- 
peared  on  deck.  They  at  once  attracted  their  attention,  and 
the  captain's  widow  felt  the  imperative  necessity,  as  connected 
with  her  professional  character,  of  proving  the  same.  She  soon 
found  Spike,  who  wTas  bustling  around  the  deck,  now  looking 
around  to  see  that  his  brig  was  kept  in  the  channel,  now  and 
then  issuing  an  order  to  complete  her  disguise. 

"Captain  Spike,  what  can  be  the  meaning  of  all  these  changes? 
The  tamper  of  your  vessel  is  so  much  altered,  that  I  declare  I 
should  not  have  known  her !" 

"  Is  it,  by  George  !  Then  she  is  just  in  the  state  I  want  her 
to  be  in." 

"  But  why  have  you  done  it,  and  what  does  it  all  mean  ?" 

"  Oh,  Molly's  going  to  bed  for  the  night,  and  she's  only  un- 
dressing herself — that's  all." 

"  Yes,  Rosy  dear,  Captain  Spike  is  right.  I  remember  that 
my  poor  Mr.  Budd  used  to  talk  about  The  Rose  In  Bloom  hav- 
ing her  clothes  on,  and  her  clothes  off,  just  as  if  she  was  a  born 
woman  !  But  don't  you  mean  to  navigate  at  all  in  the  night, 
Captain  Spike  ?     Or  will  the  brig  navigate  without  sails  ?" 

"  That's  it — she's  just  as  good  in  the  dark,  under  one  sort  of 
canvas,  as  under  another.  So,  Mr.  Mulford,  we'll  take  a  reef  in 
that  mainsail ;  it  will  bring  it  nearer  to  the  size  of  our  new  fore- 
sail, and  seem  more  ship-shape  and  Brister  fashion  :  then  I  think 
she'll  do,  as  the  night  is  getting  to  be  rather  darkish." 

"  Captain  Spike,"  said  the  boatswain,  who  had  been  set  to 
look  out  for  that  particular  change,  "  the  brig  begins  to  feel  the 
new  tide,  and  sets  to  windward." 

"  Let  her  go,  then — now  is  as  good  a  time  as  another. 
We've  got  to  run  the  gantlet,  and  the  sooner  it  is  done  the 
better." 

As  the  moment  seemed  propitious,  not  only  Mulford,  but  all  the 
people,  heard  this  order  with  satisfaction.  The  night  was  star- 
light, though  not  very  clear  at  that.  Objects  on  the  water,  how- 
ever, were  more  visible  than  those  on  the  land,  while  those  on  the 


JACK     TIER.  Oil 

»ast  could  be  seen  well  enough,  even  from  the  brig,  though  in 
confused  and  somewhat  shapeless  piles.  When  the  Swash  waa 
brought  close  by  the  wind,  she  had  just  got  into  the  last  reach 
of  the  "river,"  or  that  which  runs  parallel  with  the  week  for 
near  a  mile,  doubling  where  the  Sound  expands  itself,  gradu- 
ally, to  a  breadth  of  many  leagues.  Still  the  navigation  at  iL . 
entrance  of  this  end  of  the  Sound  was  intricate  and  son  ewhat 
dangerous,  rendering  it  indispensable  for  a  vessel  of  any  siz,-  to 
make  a  crooked  course.  The  wind  stood  at  southeast,  and  was 
very  scant  to  lay  through  the  reach  with,  while  the  tide  was  so 
slack  as  barely  to  possess  a  visible  current  at  that  place.  The 
steamer  lay  directly  off  the  Point,  mid-channel,  as  mentioned, 
showing  lights,  to  mark  her  position  to  any  thing  which  might 
be  passing  in  or  out.  The  great  thing  was  to  get  by  her  with- 
out exciting  her  suspicion.  As  all  on  board,  the  females  ex- 
cepted, knew  what  their  captain  was  at,  the  attempt  was  made 
amid  an  anxious  and  profound  silence  ;  or,  if  any  one  spoke  at 
all,  it  was  only  to  give  an  order  in  a  low  tone,  or  its  answer  in 
a  simple  monosyllable. 

Although  her  aunt  assured  her  that  every  thing  which  had 
been  done  already,  and  which  was  now  doing,  was  quite  in  rule, 
the  quick-eyed  and  quick-witted  Rose  noted  these  unusual  pro- 
ceedings, and  had  an  opinion  of  her  own  on  the  subject.  Spike 
had  gone  forward,  and  posted  himself  on  the  weather-side  of  the 
forecastle,  where  he  could  get  the  clearest  look  ahead,  and  there 
he  remained  most  of  the  time,  leaving  Mulford  on  the  quarter- 
deck, to  work  the  vessel.  Perceiving  this,  she  managed  to  get 
near  the  mate  without  attracting  her  aunt's  attention,  and  at 
the  same  time  out  of  ear-shot. 

"  Why  is  everybody  so  still  and  seemingly  so  anxious,  Harry 
Mulford  ?"  she  asked,  speaking  in  a  low  tone  herself,  as  if  de- 
lirous  of  conforming  to  a  common  necessity ;  "  is  there  any 
new  danger  here  ?  I  thought  the  Gate  had  been  passed  alto- 
gether, some  hours  ago  ?" 

"  So  it  has.     D've  see  that  large  dark  mass  on  the  water 


60  JACK     TIER. 

off  the  Point,  which,  seems  almost  as  huge  as  the  Tort,  with 
lights  above  it  ?  That  is  a  revenue  steamer  which  came  out  of 
York  a  few  hours  before  us.  We  wish  to  get  past  her  without 
being  troubled  by  any  of  her  questions." 

"  And  what  do  any  in  this  brig  care  about  her  questions  ? 
They  can  be  answered,  surely." 

"  Ay,  ay,  Rose — they  may  be  answered,  as  you  say,  but  the 
answers  sometimes  are  unsatisfactory.  Captain  Spike,  for  some 
reason  or  other,  is  uneasy,  and  would  rather  not  h?,ve  any  thing 
to  say  to  her.  He  has  the  greatest  aversion  to  speaking  the 
smallest  craft  when  on  a  coast." 

"And  that's  the  reason  he  has  undressed  lib  M'.lly,  as  he 
calls  her,  that  he  might  not  be  known." 

Mulford  turned  his  head  quickly  towards  his  companion,  as 
if  surprised  by  her  quickness  of  apprehension ;  but  he  had  too 
just  a  sense  of  his  duty  to  make  any  reply.  Instead  of  pursuing 
the  discourse,  he  adroitly  contrived  to  change  it,  by  pointing 
out  to  Rose  the  manner  in  which  they  were  getting  on.  which 
seemed  to  be  very  successfully. 

Although  the  Swash  was  under  much  reduced  canvas,  she 
glided  along  with  great  ease  and  with  considerable  rapidity  of 
motion.  The  heavy  night  air  kept  her  canvas  distended,  and 
the  weatherly  set  of  the  tide,  trifling  as  it  yet  was,  pressed  her 
up  against  the  breeze,  so  as  to  turn  all  to  account.  It  was 
apparent  enough,  by  the  manner  in  which  objects  on  the  land 
were  passed,  that  the  crisis  was  fast  approaching.  Rose  rejoined 
her  aunt,  in  order  to  await  the  result,  in  nearly  breathless  ex- 
pectation. At  that  momeut,  she  would  have  given  the  world 
to  be  safe  on  shore.  This  wish  was  not  the  consequence  of  any 
constitutional  timidity,  for  Rose  was  much  the  reverse  from 
timid,  but  it  was  the  fruit  of  a  newly-awakened  and  painful, 
though  still  vague,  suspicion.  Happy,  thrice  happy  was  it  for  one 
of  her  naturally  confiding  and  guileless  nature,  that  distrust  was 
thus  opportunely  awakened,  for  she  was  without  a  guardian  com 
netent  to  advise  and  guide  her  youth,  as  circumstances  required. 


JACK     TIER.  61 

The  brig  was  not  long  in  reaching  the  passage  that  opened 
to  the  Sound.  It  is  probable  she  did  this  so  much  the  sooner 
because  Spike  kept  her  a  little  off  the  wind,  with  a  view  of  not 
passing  too  near  the  steamer.  At  this  point,  the  direction  of  the 
passage  changes  at  nearly  a  right  angle,  the  revenue  steamer 
lying  on  a  line  with  the  Neck,  and  leaving  a  sort  of  bay,  in  the 
angle,  for  the  Swash  to  enter.  The  land  was  somewhat  low  in 
all  directions  but  one,  and  that  was  by  drawing  a  straight  line 
from  the  Point,  through  the  steamer,  to  the  Long  Island  shore. 
On  the  latter,  and  in  that  quarter,  rose  a  bluff  of  considerable 
elevation,  with  deep  water  quite  near  it ;  and,  under  the  shadows 
of  that  bluff,  Spike  intended  to  perform  his  nicest  evolutions. 
lie  saw  that  the  revenue  vessel  had  let  her  fires  go  down,  and 
that  she  was  entirely  without  steam.  Under  canvas,  he  had 
no  doubt  of  beating  her  hand  over  hand,  could  he  once  fairly 
get  to  windward ;  and  then  she  was  at  anchor,  and  would  lose 
some  time  in  getting  under  way,  should  she  even  commence  a 
pursuit.  It  was  all-important,  therefore,  to  gain  as  much  to 
windward  as  possible,  before  the  people  of  the  government  vessel 
took  the  alarm. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  alterations  made  on  board  the 
Swash  served  her  a  very  good  turn  on  this  occasion.  Although 
the  night  could  not  be  called  positively  dark,  there  was  sufficient 
obscurity  to  render  her  hull  confused  and  indistinct  at  any  dis- 
tance, and  this  so  much  the  more  when  seen  from  the  steamer 
outside,  or  between  her  and  the  land.  All  this  Spike  very  well 
understood,  and  largely  calculated  on.  In  effect  he  was  not 
deceived  ;  the  look-outs  on  board  the  revenue  craft  could  trace 
little  of  the  vessel  that  was  approaching  beyond  the  spars  and 
sails  which  rose  above  the  shores,  and  these  seemed  to  be  the 
spars  and  sails  of  a  common  fore-topsail  schooner.  As  this  was 
not  the  sort  of  craft  for  which  they  were  on  the  watch,  no  sus- 
picion was  awakened,  nor  did  any  reports  go  from  the  quarter 
deck  to  the  cabin.  The  steamer  had  her  quarter  watches,  and 
officers  of  the  deck,  like  a  vessel  of  war,  the  discipline  of  which 


02  JACK     TIER. 

was  fairly  enough  imitated;  but  even  a  man-of-war  may  be 
overreached  on  an  occasion. 

Spike  was  only  great  in  a  crisis,  and  then  merely  as  a  seaman, 
lie  understood  his  calling  to  its  minutiae,  and  he  understood  the 
Molly  Swash  better  than  he  understood  any  other  craft  that 
floated.  For  more  than  twenty  years  had  he  sailed  her,  and 
the  careful  parent  does  not  better  understand  the  humors  of  the 
child,  than  he  understood  exactly  what  might  be  expected 
from  his  brig.  His  satisfaction  sensibly  increased,  therefore,  as 
she  stole  along  the  land,  towards  the  angle  mentioned,  without 
a  sound  audible  but  the  gentle  gurgling  of  the  water,  stirred  by 
the  stem,  and  which  sounded  like  the  ripple  of  the  gentlest 
wave,  as  it  washes  the  shingle  of  some  placid  beach. 

As  the  brig  drew  nearer  to  the  bluff,  the  latter  brought  the 
wind  more  ahead,  as  respected  the  desired  course.  This  was 
unfavorable,  but  it  did  not  disconcert  her  watchful  commander. 

"  Let  her  come  round,  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  this  pilot-captain,  in 
a  low  voice  ;  "  we  are  as  near  in  as  we  ought  to  go." 

The  helm  was  put  down,  the  head  sheets  started,  and  away 
into  the  wind  shot  the  Molly  Swash,  fore-reaching  famously  in 
stays,  and,  of  course,  gaining  so  much  on  her  true  course.  In 
a  minute  she  was  round,  and  filled  on  the  other  tack.  Spike 
was  now  so  near  the  land,  that  he  could  perceive  the  tide  was 
beginning  to  aid  him,  and  that  his  weatherly  set  was  getting  to 
be  considerable.  Delighted  at  this,  he  walked  aft,  and  told 
Mulford  to  go  about  again  as  soon  as  the  vessel  had  sufficient 
way  to  make  sure  of  her  in  stays.  The  mate  inquired  if  he  did 
not  think  the  revenue  people  might  suspect  something,  unless 
they  stood  further  out  towards  mid-channel ;  but  Spike  remind- 
ed him  that  they  would  be  apt  to  think  the  schooner  was 
working  up  under  the  southern  shore,  because  the  ebb  first 
made  there.  This  reason  satisfied  Mulford,  and,  as  soon  as  they 
were  half-way  between  the  bluff  and  the  steamer,  the  Swash 
was  again  tacked,  with  her  head  to  the  former.  This  manoeuvre 
was  executed  when  the  brig  was  about  two  hundred  yards  from 


JACK      TIER.  63 

the  steamer,  a  distance  that  was  sufficient  to  preserve,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  the  disguise  she  had  assumed. 

"  They  do  not  suspect  us,  Harry,"  whispered  Spike  to  his 
mate.  "  We  shall  get  to  windward  of  'em,  as  sartain  as  the 
breeze  stands.  That  boatin'  gentleman  might  as  well  have  staid 
at  home,  as  for  any  good  his  hurry  done  him,  or  his  employers  1" 

"  Whom  do  you  suppose  him  to  be,  Captain  Spike  ?" 

"  Who  ?  A  feller  that  lives  by  his  own  wicked  deeds.  No 
matter  who  he  is.  An  informer,  perhaps.  At  any  rate,  he  is 
not  the  man  to  outwit  the  Molly  Swash,  and  her  old,  stupid, 
foolish  master  and  owner,  Stephen  Spike.  Luff,  Mr.  Mulford, 
luff.  Now's  the  time  to  make  the  most  of  your  leg — luff  her 
up  and  shake  her.  She  is  setting  to  windward  fast,  the  ebb  is 
sucking  along  that  bluff  like  a  boy  at  a  molasses  hogshead.  All 
-she  can  drift  on  this  tack  is  clear  gain  ;  there  is  no  hurry,  so 
long  as  they  are  asleep  aboard  the  steamer.  That's  it — make  a 
half-board'  at  once,  but  take  care  and  not  come  round.  As  soon 
as  we  are  fairly  clear  of  the  bluff,  and  open  the  bay  that  makes 
up  behind  it,  we  shall  get  the  wind  more  to  the  southward,  and 
have  a  fine  long  leg  for  the  next  stretch. 

Of  course  Mulford  obeyed,  throwing  the  brig  up  into  the 
wind,  and  allowing  her  to  set  to  windward,  but  filling  again  on 
the  same  tack,  as  ordered.  This,  of  course,  delayed  her  progress 
towards  the  land,  and  protracted  the  agony,  but  it  carried  the 
vessel  in  the  direction  she  most  wished  to  go,  while  it  kept  her 
not  only  end  on  to  the  steamer,  but  in  a  line  with  the  bluff,  and 
consequently  in  the  position  most  favorable  to  conceal  her  true 
character.  Presently,  the  bay  mentioned,  which  was  several 
miles  deep,  opened  darkly  towards  the  south,  and  the  wind  came 
directly  out  of  it,  or  more  to  the  southward.  At  this  moment 
the  Swash  was  near  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  steamer,  and 
all  that  distance  dead  to  windward  of  her,  as  the  breeze  came 
out  of  the  bay.  Spike  tacked  his  vessel  himself  now,  and  got 
her  head  up  so  high  that  she  brought  the  steamer  on  her  lee 
quarter,  and  looked  away  towards  the  island  which  lies  north- 


64  JACK     TIER. 

wardly  from  the  Point,  and  quite  near  to  which  all  vessels  of 
any  draught  of  water  are  compelled  to  pass,  even  with  the 
fairest  winds. 

"  Shake  the  reef  out  of  the  mainsail,  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  Spike, 
when  the  Swash  was  fairly  in  motion  again  on  this  advantageous 
tack.  "  We  shall  pass  well  to  windward  of  the  steamer  and 
may  as  well  begin  to  open  our  cloth  again." 

"  Is  it  not  a  little  too  soon,  sir  ?"  Mulford  ventured  to  remon- 
strate ;  "  the  reef  is  a  large  one,  and  will  make  a  great  difference 
in  the  size  of  the  sail." 

"  They'll  not  see  it  at  this  distance.  No,  no,  sir ;  shake  out 
the  reef,  and  sway  away  on  the  topgallant-mast  rope ;  I'm  for 
bringing  the  Molly  Swash  into  her  old  shape  again,  and  make 
her  look  handsome  once  more." 

"Do  you  dress  the  brig,  as  well  as  undress  her,  o'  nights, 
Captain  Spike  ?"  inquired  the  shipmaster's  relict,  a  little  puzzled 
with  this  fickleness  of  purpose.  "  I  do  not  believe  my  poor  Mr. 
Budd  ever  did  that." 

"Fashions  change,  madam,  with  the  times — ay,  ay,  sir — ■ 
shake  out  the  reef,  and  sway  away  on  that  mast-rope,  boys,  as 
soon  as  you  have  manned  it.  We'll  convart  our  schooner  into 
a  brig  again." 

As  these  orders  were  obeyed,  of  course,  a  general  bustle  now 
took  place.  Mulford  soon  had  the  reef  out,  and  the  sail  dis- 
tended to  the  utmost,  while  the  topgallant-mast  was  soon  up  and 
fidded.  The  next  thing  was  to  sway  upon  the  fore-yard,  and 
get  that  into  its  place.  The  people  were  busied  at  this  duty, 
when  a  hoarse  hail  came  across  the  water  on  the  heavy  night  air. 

"  Brig  ahoy  !"  was  the  call. 

"Sway  upon  that  fore-yard,"  said  Spike,  unmoved  by  this 
summons — "  start  it,  start  it  at  once." 

"  The  steamer  hails  us,  sir,"  said  the  mate. 

"  Not  she.     She  is  hailing  a  brig ;  we  are  a  schooner  yet." 

A  moment  of  active  exertion  succeeded,  during  which  the 
fore-yard  went  into  its  place.     Then  came  a  second  hail. 


JACK      TIER.  65 

"Schooner  ahoy !"  was  the  summons  this  time. 

"  The  steamer  hails  us  again,  Captain  Spike." 

il  The  devil  a  bit.  We're  a  brig  now,  and  she  hails  a  schooner. 
Come,  boys,  bestir  yourselves,  and  get  the  canvas  on  Molly 
for'ard.  Loose  the  fore-course  before  you  quit  the  yard  there, 
then  up  aloft  and  loosen  every  thing  you  can  find." 

All  was  done  as  ordered,  and  done  rapidly,  as  is  ever  the 
case  on  board  a  well-ordered  vessel  when  there  is  occasion  for 
exertion.  That  occasion  now  appeared  to  exist  in  earnest ;  for, 
while  the  men  were  sheeting  home  the  topsail,  a  flash  of  light 
illuminated  the  scene,  when  the  roar  of  a  gun  came  booming 
across  the  water,  succeeded  by  the  very  distinct  whistling  of  its 
shot.  We  regret  that  the  relict  of  the  late  Captain  Budd  did 
not  behave  exactly  as  became  a  shipmaster's  widow,  under  fire. 
Instead  of  remaining  silent  and  passive,  even  while  frightened, 
as  was  the  case  with  Hose,  she  screamed  quite  as  loud  as  she 
had  previously  done  that  very  day  in  Hell-Gate.  It  appeared 
to  Spike,  indeed,  that  practice  was  making  her  perfect ;  and,  as 
for  Biddy,  the  sj>irit  of  emulation  became  so  powerful  in  her 
bosom,  that,  if  any  thing,  she  actually  outshrieked  her  mistress. 
Hearing  this,  the  widow  made  a  second  effort,  and  fairly  recov- 
ered the  ground  some  might  have  fancied  she  had  lost. 

"  Oh !  Captain  Spike,"  exclaimed  the  agitated  widow,  "  do 
not,  do  not — if  you  love  me,  do  not  let  them  fire  again !" 

"  How  am  I  to  help  it  ?"  asked  the  captain,  a  good  deal  to 
the  point,  though  he  overlooked  the  essential  fact,  that,  by 
heaving-to,  and  waiting  for  the  steamer's  boat  to  board  him,  he 
might  have  prevented  a  second  shot,  as  completely  as  if  he  had 
the  ordering  of  the  whole  affair.  No  second  shot  was  fired, 
however.  As  it  afterwards  appeared,  the  screams  of  Mrs.  Budd 
and  Biddy  were  heard  on  board  the  steamer,  the  captain  of 
which,  naturally  enough,  supposing  that  the  slaughter  must  be 
terrible  where  such  cries  had  arisen,  was  satisfied  with  the  mischief 
he  had  already  done,  and  directed  his  people  to  secure  their  gun, 
and  go  to  the  capstan-bars,  in  order  to  help  lift  the  anchor.     In 


G6  JACK      TIEK. 

a  word,  the  revenue  vessel  was  getting  under  way,  man-of-war 
fashion,  which  means  somewhat  expeditiously. 

Spike  understood  the  sounds  that  reached  him,  among  which 
was  the  call  of  the  boatswain,  and  he  bestirred  himself  accord- 
ingly. Experienced  as  he  was  in  chases  and  all  sorts  of  nautical 
artifices,  he  very  well  knew  that  his  situation  was  sufficiently 
critical.  It  would  have  been  so,  with  a  steamer  at  his  heels,  in 
the  open  ocean ;  but,  situated  as  he  was,  he  was  compelled  to 
steer  but  one  course,  and  to  accept  the  wind  on  that  course  as 
it  might  offer.  If  he  varied  at  all  in  his  direction,  it  was  only 
in  a  trilling  way,  though  he  did  make  some  of  these  variations. 
Every  moment  was  now  precious,  however,  and  he  endeavored 
to  improve  the  time  to  the  utmost.  He  knew  that  he  could 
greatly  outsail  the  revenue  vessel,  under  canvas,  and  some  time 
would  be  necessary  to  enable  her  to  get  up  her  steam — half  an 
hour  at  the  very  least.  On  that  half  hour,  then,  depended  the 
fate  of  the  Molly  Swash. 

"  Send  the  booms  on  the  yards,  and  set  stun'sails  at  once,  Mr. 
Mulford,"  said  Spike,  the  instant  the  more  regular  canvas  was 
spread  forward.  "  This  wind  will  be  free  enough  for  all  but  the 
lower  stuu'sail,  and  we  must  drive  the  brig  on." 

"Are  we  not  looking  up  too  high,  Captain  Spike?  The 
Stepping-Stones  are  ahead  of  us,  sir." 

"  I  know  that  very  well,  Mulford.  But  it's  nearly  high  water, 
and  the  brig's  in  light  trim,  and  we  may  rub  and  go.  By  mak- 
ing a  short  cut  here,  we  shall  gain  a  full  mile  on  the  steamer : 
that  mile  may  save  us." 

"  Do  you  really  think  it  possible  to  get  away  from  that  craft, 
which  can  always  make  a  fair  wind  of  it,  in  these  narrow  waters, 
Captain  Spike  ?" 

"  One  don't  know,  sir.  Nothin'  is  done  without  tryin',  and 
by  tryin'  more  is  often  done  than  was  hoped  for.  I  have  a 
scheme  in  my  head,  and  Providence  may  favor  me  in  bringing 
it  about." 

Providence !     The  religionist  quarrels  with  the  philosopher, 


JACK     TIER.  67 

if  the  latter  happen  to  remove  this  interposition  of  a  higher 
Power,  even  so  trifiingly  as  by  the  intervention  of  secondary 
agencies,  while  the  biggest  rascal  dignifies  even  his  success  by 
such  phrases  as  Providential  aid  !  But  it  is  not  surprising  men 
should  misunderstand  terms,  when  they  make  such  sad  confusion 
in  the  acts  which  these  terms  are  merely  meant  to  represent. 
Spike  had  his  Providence  as  well  as  a  priest,  and  we  dare  say 
he  often  counted  on  its  succor,  with  quite  as  rational  grounds 
of  dependence  as  many  of  the  pharisees  who  are  constantly 
exclaiming,  "  The  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord 
are  these." 

Sail  was  made  on  board  the  Swash  with  great  rapidity,  and 
the  brig  made  a  bold  push  at  the  Stepping-Stones.  Spike  was 
a  capital  pilot.  He  insisted  if  he  could  once  gain  sight  of  the 
spar  that  was  moored  on  those  rocks  for  a  buoy,  he  should  run 
with  great  confidence.  The  two  lights  were  of  great  assistance, 
of  course ;  but  the  revenue  vessel  could  see  these  lights  as  well 
as  the  brig,  and  she,  doubtless,  had  an  excellent  pilot  on  board. 
By  the  time  the  studding-sails  were  set  on  board  the  Swash,  the 
steamer  was  aweigh,  and  her  long  line  of  peculiar  sails  became 
visible.  Unfortunately  for  men  who  were  in  a  hurry,  she  lay 
so  much  within  the  bluff  as  to  get  the  wind  scant,  and  her 
commander  thought  it  necessary  to  make  a  stretch  over  to  the 
southern  shore,  before  he  attempted  to  lay  his  course.  When 
he  was  ready  to  tack,  an  operation  of  some  time  with  a  vessel 
of  her  great  length,  the  Swash  was  barely  visible  in  the  obscurity, 
gliding  off  upon  a  slack  bowline,  at  a  rate  which  nothing  but 
the  damp  night  air,  the  ballast-trim  of  the  vessel,  united  to  her 
excellent  sailing  qualities,  could  have  produced  with  so  light  a 
breeze. 

The  first  half  hour  took  the  Swash  completely  out  of  sight  Oi 
the  steamer.  In  that  time,  in  truth,  by  actual  superiority  in 
oailing,  by  her  greater  state  of  preparation,  and  by  the  distance 
saved  by  a  bold  navigation,  she  had  gained  fully  a  league  on 
her  pursuer.     But,  while  the  steamer  had  lost  sight  of  the  Swash, 


68  JACK     TIER. 

the  latter  kept  the  former  in  view,  and  that  by  means  of  a  sig- 
nal that  was  very  portentous.  She  saw  the  light  of  the  steam- 
er's chimneys,  and  could  form  some  opinion  of  her  distance  and 
position. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  when  the  Swash  passed  the  light 
at  Sands'  Point,  close  in  with  the  land.  The  wind  stood  much 
as  it  had  -been.  If  there  was  a  change  at  all,  it  was  half  a 
point  more  to  the  southward,  and  it  was  a  little  fresher.  Such 
as  it  was,  Spike  saw  he  was  getting,  in  that  smooth  water, 
quite  eight  knots  out  of  his  craft,  and  he  made  his  calculations 
thereon.  As  yet,  and  possibly  for  half  an  hour  longer,  he  was 
gaining,  and  might  hope  to  continue  to  gain  on  the  steamer. 
Then  her  turn  would  come.  Though  no  great  traveller,  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  that,  favored  by  smooth  water  and  the 
breeze,  her  speed  would  be  less  than  ten  knots,  while  there  was 
no  hope  of  increasing  his  own  without  an  increase  of  the  wind. 
He  might  be  five  miles  in  advance,  or. six  at  the  most;  these  six 
miles  would  be  overcome  in  three  hours  of  steaming,  to  a  dead 
certainty,  and  they  might  possibly  be  overcome  much  sooner. 
It  was  obviously  necessary  to  resort  to  some  other  experiment 
than  that  of  dead  sailing,  if  an  escape  was  to  be  effected. 

The  Sound  was  now  several  miles  in  width,  and  Spike,  at 
first,  proposed  to  his  mate  to  keep  off  dead  before  the  wind, 
and  by  crossing  over  to  the  north  shore,  let  the  steamer 
pass  ahead,  and  continue  a  bootless  chase  to  the  eastward. 
Several  vessels,  however,  were  visible  in  the  middle  of  the  pas- 
sage, at  distances  varying  from  one  to  three  miles,  and  Mulford 
pointed  out  the  hopelessness  of  attempting  to  cross  the  sheet  of 
open  water,  and  expect  to  go  unseen  by  the  watchful  eyes  of 
the  revenue  people. 

"  What  you  say  is  true  enough,  Mr.  Mulford,"  answered  Spike, 
after  a  moment  of  profound  reflection,  "and  every  foot  that  they 
come  nearer,  the  less  will  be  our  chance.  But  here  is  Hemp- 
stead Harbor  a  few  leagues  ahead ;  if  we  can  reach  that  before 
the  blackguards  close,  we  may  do  well  enough.     It  is  a  deep 


JACK     TIER.  69 

bay,  and  has  high  land  to  darken  the  view.  I  don't  think  the 
brig  could  be  seen  at  midnight  by  any  thing  outside,  if  she  was 
once  fairly  up  that  water  a  mile  or  two." 

"  That  is  our  chance,  sir !"  exclaimed  Mulford  cheerfully. 
"  Ay,  ay,  I  know  the  spot,  and  every  thing  is  favorable — try  that, 
Captain  Spike  ;  I'll  answer  for  it  that  Ave  go  clear." 

Spike  did  try  it.  For  a  considerable  time  longer  he  stood 
on,  keeping  as  close  to  the  land  as  he  thought  it  safe  to  run, 
and  carrying  every  thing  that  would  draw.  But  the  steamer 
was  on  his  heels,  evidently  gaining  fast.  Her  chimneys  gave 
out  flames,  and  there  was  every  sign  that  her  people  were  in 
earnest.  To  those  on  board  the  Swash  these  flames  seemed  to 
draw  nearer  each  instant,  as  indeed  was  the  fact,  and  just  as 
the  breeze  came  fresher  out  of  the  opening  in  the  hills,  or  the 
low  mountains  which  surrounded  the  place  of  refuge  in  which 
they  designed  to  enter,  Mulford  announced  that  by  aid  of  the 
night-glass  he  could  distinguish  both  sails  and  hull  of  their  pur- 
suer. Spike  took  a  look,  and  throwing  down  the  instrument, 
in  a  way  to  endanger  it,  he  ordered  the  studding-sails  taken  in. 
The  men  went  aloft  like  cats,  and  worked  as  if  they  could 
stand  in  air.  In  a  minute  or  two  the  Swash  was  under  what 
Mrs.  Budd  might  have  called  her  "  attacking"  canvas,  and  was 
close  by  the  wind,  looking  on  a  good  leg  well  up  the  harbor. 
The  brig  seemed  to  be  conscious  of  the  emergency,  and  glided 
ahead  at  capital  speed.  In  five  minutes  she  had  shut  in  the 
flaming  chimneys  of  the  steamer.  In  five  minutes  more  Spike 
tacked,  to  keep  under  the  western  side  of  the  harbor,  and  oui 
of  sight  as  long  as  possible,  and  because  he  thought  the  breeze 
drew  down  fresher  where  he  was  than  more  out  in  the  bay. 

All  now  depended  on  the  single  fact  whether  the  brig  had 
been  seen  from  the  steamer  or  not,  before  she  hauled  into  the 
Day.  If  seen,  she  had  probably  been  watched ;  if  not  seen, 
ihere  were  strong  grounds  for  hoping  that  she  might  still  escape. 
About  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  Spike  hauled  up,  the  burning 
chimneys  came  again  into  view.      The  brig  was  then  half  a 


10 


JACK     TIER, 


league  within  the  bay,  with  a  fine  dark  background  of  hills  to 
throw  her  into  shadow.  Spike  ordered  every  thing  taken  in 
but  the  trysail,  under  which  the  brig  was  left  to  set  slowly  over 
towards  the  western  side  of  the  harbor.  lie  now  rubbed  his 
hands  with  delight,  and  pointed  out  to  Mulford  the  circumstance 
that  the  steamer  kept  on  her  course  directly  athwart  the  harbor's 
mouth !  Had  she  seen  the  Swash,  no  doubt  she  Avould  have 
turned  into  the  bay  also.  Nevertheless,  an  anxious  ten  minutes 
succeeded,  during  which  the  revenue  vessel  steamed  fairly  past, 
and  shut  in  her  flaming  chimneys  again  by  the  eastern  head- 
lands of  the  estuary. 


JACK     TIER. 


CHAPTER   III. 

"  The  western  wave  was  all  a-flame, 
The  day  was  well-nigh  done, 
Almost  upon  the  western  wave 
Bested  the  broad  bright  sun; 
"When  that  strange  ship  drove  suddenly 
Betwixt  us  and  the  sun." 

The  Ancient  Ma  kinks. 

Ar  that  hour,  on  the  succeeding  morning,  when  the  light  of 
day  is  just  beginning  to  chase  away  the  shadows  of  night,  the 
Molly  Swash  became  visible  within  the  gloom  of  the  high  land 
which  surrounds  so  much  of  the  bay  of  Hempstead,  under  easy 
sail,  backing  and  rilling,  in  order  to  keep  within  her  hiding- 
place,  until  a  look  could  be  had  at  the  state  of  things  without. 
Half  an  hour  later,  she  was  so  near  the  entrance  of  the  estuary, 
as  to  enable  the  lookouts  aloft  to  ascertain  that  the  coast  was 
clear,  when  Spike  ordered  the  helm  to  be  put  up,  and  the  brig 
to  be  kept  away  to  her  course.  At  this  precise  moment,  Rose 
appeared  on  deck,  refreshed  by  the  sleep  of  a  quiet  night,  and 
with  cheeks  tinged  with  a  color  even  more  delicate  than  that  which 
was  now  glowing  in  the  eastern  sky,  and  almost  as  brilliant. 

"  We  stopped  in  this  bit  of  a  harbor  for  the  night,  Miss  Rose, 
that  is  all,"  said  Spike,  observing  that  his  fair  passenger  was 
looking  about  her,  in  some  little  surprise,  at  finding  the  vessel 
so  near  the  land,  and  seemingly  so  much  out  of  her  proper 
position.  "  Yes,  we  always  do  that,  when  we  first  start  on  a 
v'y'ge,  and  before  the  brig  gets  used  to  travelling — don't  we, 
Mr.  Mulford?" 

Mr.  Mulford,  who  knew  how  hopeless  was  the  attempt  to 
mystify  Rose,  as  one  might  mystify  her  credulous  and  weak- 
•ninded  aunt,  and  who  had  no  disposition  to  deal  any  way  but 


JACK     TIER 


fairly  by  the  beautiful,  and  iu  one  sense  now  helpless  young 
creature  befoie  him,  did  not  see  fit  to  make  any  reply.  Offend 
Spike  he  did  not  dare  to  do,  more  especially  under  present  cir- 
cumstances ;  and  mislead  Rose  he  would  not.  lie  affected 
not  to  hear  the  question,  therefore,  but  issuing  an  order  about 
the  head-sails,  he  walked  forward  as  if  to  see  it  executed.  Rose 
herself  was  not  under  as  much  restraint  as  the  young  mate. 

"  It  is  convenient,  Captain  Spike,"  she  coolly  answered  for 
Mulford,  "  to  have  stopping-places  for  vessels  that  are  wearied, 
and  I  remember  the  time  when  my  uncle  used  to  tell  me  of 
such  matters,  very  much  in  the  same  vein ;  but,  it  was  before  I 
was  twelve  years  old." 

Spike  hemmed,  and  he  looked  a  little  foolish,  but  Clench,  the 
boatswain,  coming  aft  to  say  something  to  him  in  confidence, 
just  at  that  moment,  he  was  enabled  to  avoid  the  awkwardness 
of  attempting  to  explain.  This  man  Clench,  or  Clinch,  as  the 
name  was  pronounced,  was  deep  in  the  captain's  secrets ;  far 
more  so  than  was  his  mate,  and  would  have  been  filling  Mul- 
ford's  station  at  that  very  time,  had  he  not  been  hopelessly 
ignorant  of  navigation.  On  the  present  occasion,  his  business 
was  to  point  out  to  the  captain  two  or  three  lines  of  smoke 
that  were  visible  above  the  water  of  the  Sound,  in  the  eastern 
board  ;  one  of  which  he  was  apprehensive  might  turn  out  to 
be  the  smoke  of  the  revenue  craft,  from  which  they  had  so  re- 
cently escaped. 

"  Steamers  are  no  rarities  in  Long  Island  Sound,  Clench," 
observed  the  captain,  levelling  his  glass  at  the  most  suspected  of 
the  smokes.  "  That  must  be  a  Providence,  or  Stoniugton  chap, 
coming  west  with  the  Boston  train." 

"  Either  of  them  would  have  been  further  west  by  this  time, 
Captain  Spike,"  returned  the  doubting,  but  watchful  boatswain. 
"  It's  a  large  smoke,  and  I  fear  it  is  the  revenue  fellow  coming 
back,  after  having  had  a  look  well  to  the  eastward,  and  satis- 
fying himself  that  we  are  not  to  be  had  in  that  quarter." 

Spike  growled  out  his  assent  to  the  possibility  of  such  a  con- 


JACK     TIER.  73 

jecture,  and  promised  vigilance.  This  satisfied  his  subordinate 
for  the  moment,  and  he  Avalked  forward,  01'  to  the  place  where 
he  belonged.  In  the  mean  time,  the  widow  came  on  deck, 
smiling,  and  snuffing  the  salt  air,  and  ready  to  be  delighted  with 
any  thing  that  was  maritime. 

"  Good  morning,  Captain  Spike,"  she  cried.  "  Are  we  in  the 
offing,  yet? — you  know  I  desired  to  be  told  when  we  are  in 
the  offing,  for  I  intend  to  write,  a  letter  to  my  poor  Mr.  Budd's 
sister,  Mrs.  Sprague,  as  soon  as  we  get  to  the  offing." 

"  What  is  the  offing,  aunt  ?"  inquired  the  handsome  niece. 

"  Why  you  have  hardly  been  at  sea  long  enough  to  under- 
stand me,  child,  should  I  attempt  to  explain.  The  offing,  how- 
ever, is  the  place  where  the  last  letters  are  always  written  to  the 
owners,  and  to  friends  ashore.  The  term  comes,  I  suppose, 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  vessel  is  about  to  be  off,  and  it 
is  natural  to  think  of  those  we  leave  behind,  at  such  a  moment. 
I  intend  to  write  to  your  aunt  Sprague,  my  dear,  the  instant  1 
hear  we  are  in  the  offing ;  and  what  is  more,  I  intend  to  make 
you  my  amanuensis." 

"  But  how  will  the  letter  be  sent,  aunty  ? — I  have  no  more 
objection  to  writing  than  any  one  else,  but  I  do  not  see  how  the 
letter  is  to  be  sent.  Really,  the  sea  is  a  curious  region,  with  its 
stopping-places  for  the  night,  and  its  offings  to  write  letters  at !" 

"  Yes,  it's  all  as  you  say,  Rose — a  most  remarkable  region  is 
the  sea !  You'll  admire  it,  as  I  admire  it,  when  you  come  to 
know  it  better ;  and  as  your  poor  uncle  admired  it,  and  as  Cap- 
tain Spike  admires  it,  too.  As  for  the  letters,  they  can  be  sent 
ashore  by  the  pilot,  as  letters  are  always  sent." 

"But,  aunty,  there  is  no  pilot  in  the  Swash — for  Captain 
Spike  refused  to  take  one  on  board." 

"  Rose  ! — you  don't  understand  what  you  are  talking  about ! 
No  vessel  ever  yet  sailed  without  a  pilot,  if  indeed  any  can.  It's 
opposed  to  the  law,  not  to  have  a  pilot;  and  now  I  remember 
to  have  heard  your  dear  uncle  say  it  wasn't  a  voyage  if  a  vessel 
didn't  take  away  a  pilot." 

4 


74  JACK     TIKR. 

"  But  if  they  take  them  away,  aunty,  how  can  they  send  the 
letters  ashore  by  them  ?" 

"  Poh  !  poh  !  child ;  you  don't  know  what  you  are  saying ; 
but  you'll  overlook  it,  I  hope,  Captain  Spike,  for  Rose  is  quick, 
and  will  soon  learn  to  know  better.  As  if  letters  couldn't  be 
sent  ashore  by  the  pilot,  though  he  was  a  hundred  thousand 
miles  from  land !  But,  Captain  Spike,  you  must  let  me  know 
when  we  are  about  to  get  off  the  Sound,  for  I  know  that  the 
pilot  is  always  sent  ashore  with  his  letters,  before  the  vessel  gets 
off  the  Sound." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  returned  the  captain,  a  little  mystified  by  the 
widow,  though  he  knew  her  so  well,  and  understood  her  so 
well — "  you  shall  know,  ma'am,  when  we  get  off  soundings,  for 
I  suppose  that  is  what  you  mean." 

"  What  is  the  difference  ?  Off  the  Sound,  or  off  the  sound- 
ings, of  course  must  mean  the  same  thing.  But,  Rosy,  we  will 
go  below  and  write  to  your  aunt  at  once,  for  I  see  a  lighthouse 
yonder,  and  lighthouses  are  always  put  just  off  the  soundings." 

Rose,  who  always  suspected  her  aunt's  nautical  talk,  though 
she  did  not  know  how  to  correct  it,  was  not  sorry  to  put  an 
end  to  it,  now,  by  going  below,  and  spreading  her  own  writing 
materials,  in  readiness  to  Avrite  as  the  other  dictated.  Biddy 
Noon  was  present,  sewing  on  some  of  her  own  finery. 

"  Now  write  as  I  tell  you,  Rose,"  commenced  the  widow : 

"  My  dear  sister  Sprague — Here  we  are,  at  last,  just  off  the 
soundings,  with  lighthouses  all  around  us,  and  so  many  capes 
and  islauds  in  sight,  that  it  does  seem  as  if  the  vessel  never 
could  find  its  way  through  them  all.  Some  of  these  islands 
must  be  the  West  Indies — " 

"  Aunty,  that  can  never  be  !"  exclaimed  Rose — "  we  left  New 
York  only  yesterday." 

"  AVkat  of  that  ?  Had  it  been  old  times,  I  grant  you  several 
days  might  be  necessary  to  get  a  sight  of  the  West  Indies,  but, 
now,  when  a  letter  can  be  written  to  a  friend  in  Boston,  and  an 
answer  received  in  half  an  hour,  it  requires  no  such  time  to  go 


JACK     TIER.  75 

to  the  West  Indies.  Besides,  what  other  islands  are  there  in 
this  part  of  the  world  ?    They  can't  be  England — " 

"  No — no,"  said  Rose,  at  once  seeing  it  would  be  preferable 
to  admit  they  were  the  West  Indies ;  so  the  letter  went  on : 

"  Some  of  these  islands  must  be  the  West  Indies,  and  it  is 
high  time  we  saw  some  of  them,  for  we  are  nearly  off  the 
Sound,  and  the  lighthouses  are  getting  to  be  quite  numerous. 
I  think  we  have  already  seen  four  since  we  left  the  wharf.  But, 
my  dear  sister  Sprague,  you  will  be  delighted  to  hear  how  much 
better  Rose's  health  is  already  becoming — " 

"  My  health,  aunty !  Why,  I  never  knew  an  ill  day  in  my 
life !" 

"  Don't  tell  me  that,  my  darling  ;  I  know  too  well  what  all 
these  deceptive  appearances  of  health  amount  to.  I  would  not 
alarm  you  for  the  world,  Rosy  dear,  but  a  careful  parent — and 
I'm  your  parent  in  affection,  if  not  by  nature — but  a  careful 
parent's  eye  is  not  to  be  deceived.  I  know  you  look  well,  but 
you  are  ill,  my  child ;  though,  Heaven  be  praised,  the  sea  air 
and  hydropathy  are  already  doing  you  a  monstrous  deal  of 
good. 

As  Mrs.  Budd  concluded,  she  wiped  her  eyes,  and  appeared 
really  glad  that  her  niece  had  a  less  consumptive  look  than 
when  she  embarked.  Rose  sat  gazing  at  her  aunt,  in  mute 
astonishment.  She  knew  how  much  and  truly  she  was  beloved, 
and  that  induced  her  to  be  more  tolerant  of  her  connection's 
foibles  than  even  duty  demanded.  Feeling  was  blended  with 
her  respect,  but  it  was  almost  too  much  for  her  to  learn  that  this 
long,  and  in  some  respects  painful  voyage,  was  undertaken  on 
her  account,  and  without  the  smallest  necessity  for  it.  The 
vexation,  however,  would  have  been  largely  increased,  but  for 
certain  free  communications  that  had  occasionally  occurred  be- 
tween her  and  the  handsome  mate,  since  the  moment  of  her 
coming  on  board  the  brig.  Rose  knew  that  Harry  Mulford 
loved  her,  too,  for  he  had  told  her  as  much  with  a  seaman's 
frankness ;  and  though  she  had  never  let  him  know  that  his 


*T6  JACK     TIER, 

partiality  was  returned,  her  woman's  heart  -was  fast  inclining 
towards  him,  with  all  her  sex's  tenderness.  This  made  the  mis- 
take of  her  aunt  tolerable,  though  Rose  was  exceedingly  vexed 
it  should  ever  have  occurred. 

"  Why,  my  dearest  aunt,"  she  cried,  "  they  told  me  it  was  on 
your  account  that  this  voyage  was  undertaken  !" 

"  I  know  they  did,  poor  dear  Rosy,  and  that  was  in  order  not 
to  alarm  you.     Some  persons  of  delicate  constitutions — " 

"  But  my  constitution  is  not  in  the  least  delicate,  aunt ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  as  good  as  possible  ;  a  blessing  for  which,  I  trust,  I 
am  truly  grateful.  I  did  not  know  but  you  might  be  suffering, 
though  you  do  look  so  well,  for  they  all  agreed  in  telling  me  you 
bad  need  of  a  sea  voyage." 

"  I,  a  subject  for  hydropathy  !  Why,  child,  water  is  no  more 
necessary  to  me  than  it  is  to  a  cat." 

"  But  going  to  sea,  aunt,  is  not  hydropathy — " 

"  Don't  say  that,  Rosy  ;  do  not  say  that,  my  dear.  It  is  hy- 
dropathy on  a  large  scale,  as  Captain  Spike  says  ;  and  when  he 
gets  us  into  blue  water,  he  has  promised  that  you  shall  have  all 
the  benefits  of  the  treatment." 

Rose  was  silent  and  thoughtful ;  after  which  she  spoke  quickly, 
like  one  to  whom  an  important  thought  had  suddenly  occurred. 

"  And  Captain  Spike,  then,  was  consulted  in  my  case  ?"  she 
asked. 

"  lie  was,  my  dear,  and  you  have  every  reason  to  be  grateful 
to  him.  He  was  the  first  to  discover  a  change  in  your  appear- 
ance, and  to  suggest  a  sea  voyage.  Marine  hydropathy,  he  said, 
he  was  sure  would  get  you  up  again ;  for  Captain  Spike  thinks 
your  constitution  good  at  the  bottom,  though  the  high  color  you 
have  proves  too  high  a  state  of  habitual  excitement." 

"  Was  Dr.  Monson  consulted  at  all,  aunt  ?" 

"  Not  at  all.  You  know  the  doctors  are  all  against  hydropathy 
and  mesmerism,  and  the  magnetic  telegraph,  and  every  thing 
that  is  new ;  so  we  thought  it  best  not  to  consult  him." 

"  And  my  aunt  Sprague  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  77 

"  Yes,  she  was  consulted  after  every  tiling  was  settled,  and 
when  I  knew  her  notions  could  not  undo  what  had  been  already 
done.  But  she  is  a  seaman's  widow,  as  well  as  myself,  and 
has  a  great  notion  of  the  virtue  of  sea  air." 

"  Then  it  would  seem  that  Doctor  Spike  was  the  principal 
adviser  in  my  case  !" 

"  I  own  that  he  was,  Rosy  dear.  Captain  Spike  was  brought 
up  by  your  uncle,  who  has  often  told  me  what  a  thorough  sea- 
man he  was.  '  There's  Spike,  now,'  he  said  to  me  one  day,  '  he 
can  almost  make  his  brig  talk' — this  very  brig,  too,  your  uncle 
meant,  Rosy,  and,  of  course,  one  of  the  best  vessels  in  the  world 
to  take  hydropathy  in." 

"  Yes,  aunty,"  returned  Rose,  playing  with  the  pen,  while  her 
air  proved  how  little  her  mind  was  in  her  words.  "  Well,  what 
shall  I  say  next  to  my  aunt  Sprague  ?" 

"  Rose's  health  is  already  becoming  confirmed"  resumed  the 
widow,  who  thought  it  best  to  encourage  her  niece  by  as  strong 
terms  as  she  could  employ,  "  and  I  shall  extol  hydropathy  to  the 
skies,  as  long  as  I  live.  As  soon  as  we  reach  our  port  of  desti- 
nation, my  dear  sister  Sprague,  I  shall  write  you  a  line  to  let 
you  know  it,  by  the  magnetic  telegraph — " 

"  But  there  is  no  magnetic  telegraph  on  the  sea,  aunty,"  in 
terrupted  Rose,  looking  up  from  the  paper,  with  her  clear,  serene, 
blue  eyes,  expressing  even  her  surprise,  at  this  touch  of  the  rel- 
ict's ignorance. 

"  Don't  tell  me  that,  Rosy,  child,  when  everybody  says  the 
sparks  will  fly  round  the  whole  earth,  just  as  soon  as  they  will 
fly  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia." 

"  But  they  must  have  something  to  fly  on,  aunty ;  and  the 
ocean  will  not  sustain  wires,  or  posts." 

"  Well,  there  is  no  need  of  being  so  particular  :  if  there  is 
no  telegraph,  the  letter  must  come  by  mail.  You  can  say  tele- 
graph, here,  and  when  your  aunt  gets  the  letter,  the  post-mark 
will  tell  her  how  it  came.  It  looks  better  to  talk  about  tele- 
graphic communications,  child." 


78  JACK     TIER, 

Rose  resumed  her  pen,  and  wrote,  at  her  aunt's  dictation,  as 
follows  : — "  By  the  magnetic  telegraph,  when  I  hope  to  be  able 
to  tell  you  that  our  dear  Rose  is  well.  As  yet,  we  both  enjoy 
the  ocean  exceedingly  ;  but  when  we  get  off  the  Sound,  into 
blue  water,  and  have  sent  the  pilot  ashore,  or  discharged  him,  I 
ought  to  say,  which  puts  me  in  mind  of  telling  you  that  a  cannon 
was  discharged  at  us  only  last  night,  and  that  the  ball  whistled 
so  near  me,  that  I  heard  it  as  plain  as  ever  you  heard  Rose's 
piano." 

"  Had  I  not  better  first  tell  my  aunt  Sprague  what  is  to  be 
done  when  the  pilot  is  discharged  ?" 

"  No  :  tell  her  about  the  cannon  that  was  discharged,  first, 
and  about  the  ball  that  I  heard.  I  had  almost  forgot  that  ad- 
venture, which  was  a  very  remarkable  one,  was  it  not,  Biddy  ?" 

"  Indeed,  Missus,  and  it  was !  and  Miss  Rose  might  put  in  the 
letter  how  we  both  screamed  at  that  cannon,  and  might  have 
been  heard  as  plainly,  every  bit  of  it,  as  the  ball." 

"  Say  nothing  on  the  subject,  Rose,  or  we  shall  never  hear 
the  last  of  it.  So,  darling,  you  may  conclude  in  your  own  way, 
for  I  believe  I  have  told  your  aunt  all  that  comes  to  mind." 

Rose  did  as  desired,  finishing  the  epistle  in  a  very  few  words, 
for,  rightly  enough,  she  had  taken  it  into  her  head  there  was 
no  pilot  to  be  discharged,  and  consequently  that  the  letter  would 
never  be  sent.  Her  short  but  frequent  conferences  with  Mulford 
were  fast  opening  her  eyes,  not  to  say  her  heart,  and  she  was 
beginning  to  see  Captain  Spike  in  his  true  character,  which 
was  that  of  a  great  scoundrel.  It  is  true,  that  the  mate  had 
not  long  judged  his  commander  quite  so  harshly,  but  had  rather 
seen  his  beautiful  brig,  and  her  rare  qualities,  in  her  owner  and  com- 
mander, than  the  man  himself;  but  jealousy  had  quickened  his  ob- 
servation of  late,  and  Stephen  Spike  had  lost  ground  sensibly  with 
Harry  Mulford,  within  the  last  week.  Two  or  three  times  before, 
the  young  man  had  thought  of  seeking  another  berth,  on  account 
of  certain  distrusts  of  Spike's  occupations  ;  but  he  was  poor,  and 
f?o  long  as  he  remained  in  the  Swash,  Harry's  opportunities  of 


JACK     TIER.  79 

meeting  Rose  were  greatly  increased.  This  circumstance,  indeed, 
was  the  secret  of  his  still  being  in  the  "Molly,"  as  Spike  usually 
called  his  craft ;  the  last  voyage  having  excited  suspicious  that 
were  rather  of  a  delicate  nature.  Then  the  young  man  really 
loved  the  brig,  which,  if  she  could  not  be  literally  made  to  talk, 
could  be  made  to  do  almost  every  thing.  A  vessel,  and  a  small 
vessel,  too,  is  rather  contracted  as  to  space  ;  but  those  who  wish 
to  converse  can  contrive  to  speak  together  often,  even  in  such 
narrow  limits.  Such  had  been  the  fact  with  Rose  Budd  and 
the  handsome  mate.  Twenty  times  since  they  sailed,  short  as 
that  time  was,  had  Mulford  contrived  to  get  so  near  to  Rose,  as 
to  talk  with  her  unheard  by  others.  It  is  true,  that  he  seldom 
ventured  to  do  this  so  long  as  the  captain  was  in  sight — but 
Spike  was  often  below,  and  opportunities  were  constantly  occur- 
ring. It  was  in  the  course  of  these  frequent  but  brief  conver- 
sations, that  Harry  had  made  certain  dark  hints  touching  the 
character  of  his  commander,  and  the  known  recklessness  of  his 
proceedings.  Rose  had  taken  the  alarm,  and  fully  comprehend- 
ing her  aunt's  mental  imbecility,  her  situation  was  already  giv- 
ing her  great  uneasiness.  She  had  some  undefined  hopes  from 
the  revenue  steamer ;  though,  strangely  enough  as  it  appeared 
to  her,  her  youngest  and  most  approved  suitor  betrayed  a  strong 
desire  to  escape  from  that  craft,  at  the  very  moment  he  was 
expressing  his  apprehensions  on  account  of  her  presence  in  the 
brig.  This  contradiction  arose  from  a  certain  esprit  de  corps, 
which  seldom  fails,  more  or  less,  to  identify  the  mariner  with 
his  ship. 

But  the  writing  was  finished,  and  the  letter  sealed  with  wax, 
Mrs.  Budd  being  quite  as  particular  in  that  ceremony  as  Lord 
Nelson,  when  the  females  again  repaired  on  deck.  They  found 
Spike  and  his  mate  sweeping  the  eastern  part  of  the  Sound  with 
their  glasses,  with  a  view  to  look  out  for  enemies ;  or,  what  to 
them,  just  then,  was  much  the  same  thing,  government  craft. 
In  this  occupation,  Rose  was  a  little  vexed  to  see  that  Mulford 
was  almost  as  much  interested  as  Spike  himself,  the  love  of  his 


60  JACK     TIER. 

vessel  seemingly  overcoming  Lis  love  for  her,  if  not  Lis  love  of 
the  rigLt ;  sLe  knew  of  no  reason,  Lovvever,  why  tLe  captain 
sLoulcl  dread  any  other  vessel,  and .  felt  sufficiently  provoked  to 
question  him  a  little  on  the  subject,  if  it  were  only  to  let  him 
see  that  the  niece  was  not  as  completely  his  dupe  as  the  aunt. 
She  had  not  been  on  deck  five  minutes,  therefore,  during  which 
time  several  expressions  had  escaped  the  two  sailors  touching 
their  apprehensions  of  vessels  seen  in  the  distance,  ere  she  com- 
menced her  inquiries. 

"  And  why  sLould  we  fear  meeting  with  other  vessels  ?"  Rose 
plainly  demanded — "  here  in  Long  Island  Sound,  and  within 
the  power  of  the  laws  of  the  country  ?" 

"  Fear !"  exclaimed  Spike,  a  little  startled,  and  a  good  deal 
surprised  at  this  straight-forward  question — "  Fear,  Miss  Rose  ? 
You  do  not  think  we  are  afraid,  though  there  are  many  reasons 
why  we  do  not  wish  to  be  spoken  by  certain  craft  that  are 
hovering  about.  In  the  first  place,  you  know  it  is  war-time — I 
suppose  you  know,  Madam  Budd,  that  America  is  at  war  with 
Mexico  ?" 

"  Certainly,"  answered  the  widow,  with  dignity  ;  "  and  that 
is  a  sufficient  reason,  Rose,  why  one  vessel  should  chase,  and 
another  should  run.  If  you  had  heard  your  poor  uncle  relate, 
as  I  have  done,  all  his  chasings  and  runnings  away,  in  the  war- 
times, child,  you  would  understand  these  things  better.  Why, 
IVe  heard  your  uncle  say  that,  in  some  of  his  long  voyages,  he 
has  run  thousands  and  thousands  of  miles,  with  sails  set  on  both 
sides,  and  all  over  his  ship  !" 

"  Yes,  aunty,  and  so  have  I,  but  that  was  '  running  before  tht 
wind,'  as  he  used  to  call  it."  # 

"  I  s'pose,  however,  Miss  Rose,"  put  in  Spike,  who  saw  tha< 
the  niece  would  soon  get  the  better  of  the  aunt — "  I  s'pose 
Miss  Rose,  that  you'll  acknowledge  that  America  is  at  war  with 
Mexico  ?" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  such  is  the  fact,  but  I  remember  to 
have  heard  you  say,  yourself,  Captain  Spike,  when  my  aunt  avub 


J  A  C  K     T  I  E  H  .  81 

induced  to  undertake  this  voyage,  that  you  did  not  consider 
there  Avas  the  smallest  danger  from  any  Mexicans." 

"  Yes,  you  did,  Captain  Spike,"  added  the  aunt — "  you  did 
say  there  was  no  danger  from  Mexicans." 

"  Nor  is  there  a  bit,  Madam  Budd,  if  Miss  Rose  and  your 
honored  self  will  only  hear  me.  There  is  no  danger,  because 
the  brig  has  the  heels  of  any  thing  Mexico  can  send  to  sea. 
She  has  sold  her  steamers,  and  as  for  any  thing  else  under  her 
flag,  I  would  not  care  a  straw." 

"  The  steamer  from  which  we  ran,  last  evening,  and  which 
actually  fired  off  a  cannon  at  us,  was  not  Mexican,  but  American," 
said  Rose,  with  a  pointed  manner  that  put  Spike  to  his  trumps. 

"  Oh,  that  steamer,"  he  stammered — "  that  was  a  race — only  a 
race,  Miss  Rose,  and  I  wouldn't  let  her  come  near  me,  for  the 
world.  I  should  never  hear  the  last  of  it,  in  the  insurance  offices, 
and  on  'change,  did  I  let  her  overhaul  us.  You  see,  Miss  Rose — 
you  see,  Madam  Budd — "  Spike  ever  found  it  most  convenient 
to  address  his  mystifying  discourse  to  the  aunt,  in  preference  to 
addressing  it  to  the  niece — "  You  see,  Madam  Budd,  the  master 
of  that  craft  and  I  are  old  cronies — sailed  together  when  boys, 
and  set  great  store  by  each  other.  We  met  only  last  evening, 
just  a'ter  I  had  left  your  own  agreeable  mansion,  Madam  Budd, 
and  says  he,  '  Spike,  when  do  you  sail  V  '  To-morrow's  flood, 
Jones,'  says  I — his  name  is  Jones — Peter  Jones,  and  as  good  a 
fellow  as  ever  lived.    '  Do  you  go  by  the  Hook,  or  by  Hell-Gate—'  " 

"Hurl-Gate,  Captain  Spike,  if  you  please — or  Whirl-Gate, 
which  some  people  think  is  the  true  sound  ;  but  the  other  way 
of  saying  it  is  awful." 

"  Well,  the  captain,  my  old  master,  always  called  it  Hell- 
Gate,  and  I  learned  the  trick  from  him — " 

"  I  know  he  did,  and  so  do  all  sailors  ;  but  genteel  people, 
now-a-days,  say  nothing  but  IIu-1-Gate,  or  Whirl-Gate." 

Rose  smiled  at  this,  as  did  Mulford ;  but  neither  said  any 
thing,  the  subject  having  once  before  been  up  between  them. 
As  for  ourselves,  we  are  still  so  old-fashioned  as  to  say,  and  write, 


82  JACK     TIER. 

Hell-Gate,  and  intend  so  to  do,  in  spite  of  all  the  Yankees  that 
have  yet  passed  through  it,  or  who  ever  shall  pass  through  it,  and 
that  is  saying  a  great  deal.  "We  do  not  like  changing  names  to 
suit  their  uneasy  spirits. 

"  Call  the  place  Hurl-Gate,  and  go  on  with  your  story,"  said 
the  widow,  complacently. 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd — '  Do  you  go  by  the  Hook,  or  by  Whirl- 
Gate?'  said  Jones.  'By  Whirl-a-Gig-Gate,'  says  I.  'Well,' 
says  he,  '  I  shall  go  through  the  Gate  myself,  in  the  course  01 
the  morning.  We  may  meet  somewhere  to  the  eastward,  and, 
if  we  do,  I'll  bet  you  a  beaver,'  says  he,  '  that  I  show  you  my 
stern.'  '  Agreed,'  says  I,  and  we  shook  hands  upon  it.  That's 
the  whole  history  of  our  giving  the  steamer  the  slip,  last  night, 
and  of  my  not  wishing  to  let  her  speak  me." 

"  But  you  went  into  a  bay,  and  let  her  go  past  you,"  said  Rose, 
coolly  enough  as  to  manner,  but  with  great  point  as  to  substance. 
"  "Was  not  that  a  singular  way  of  winning  a  race  ?" 

"  It  does  seem  so,  Miss  Rose,  but  it's  all  plain  enough,  when 
understood.  I  found  that  steam  was  too  much  for  sails,  and  I 
stood  up  into  the  bay  to  let  them  run  past  us,  in  hopes  they 
would  never  find  out  the  trick.  I  care  as  little  for  a  hat  as  any 
man,  but  I  do  care  a  good  deal  about  having  it  reported  on 
'change  that  the  Molly  was  beat,  by  even  a  steamer." 

This  ended  the  discourse  for  the  moment,  Clench  again  hav- 
ing something  to  say  to  his  captain  in  private. 

"  How  much  of  that  explanation  am  I  to  believe,  and  how 
much  disbelieve  ?"  asked  Rose  the  instant  she  was  left  alone 
with  Harry.  "  If  it  be  all  invention,  it  was  a  ready  and  in- 
genious story." 

"  No  part  of  it  is  true.  He  no  more  expected  that  the  steamer 
would  pass  through  Hell-Gate,  than  I  expected  it  myself.  There 
was  no  bet,  or  race,  therefore ;  but  it  wTas  our  wish  to  avoid 
Uncle  Sam's  cruiser,  that  was  all." 

"  And  why  should  you  wish  any  such  thing  ?" 

"  On  my  honor,  I  can  give  you  no  better  reason,  so  far  as  I 


JACK      TIER,  83 

am  concerned,  than  the  fact  that,  wishing  to  keep  clear  of  her,  I 
do  not  like  to  be  overhauled.  Nor  can  I  tell  you  why  Spike  ia 
so  much  in  earnest  in  holding  the  revenue  vessel  at  arm's  length ; 
I  know  he  dislikes  all  such  craft,  as  a  matter  c  f  course,  but  I  can 
Bee  no  particular  reason  for  it  just  now.  A  more  innocent  cargo 
was  never  stuck  into  a  vessel's  hold." 

"  What  is  it  ?" 

"Flour;  and  no  great  matter  of  that.  The  brig  is  not  half 
full,  being  jusr  in  beautiful  ballast  trim,  as  if  ready  for  a  race. 
I  can  see  nc  sufficient  reason,  beyond  native  antipathy,  win- 
Captain  Spike  should  wish  to  avoid  any  craft,  for  it  is  humbug 
his  dread  of  a  Mexican,  and  least  of  all,  here,  in  Long  Island 
Sound.     All  that  story  about  Jones  is  a  tub  for  whales." 

"  Thank  you  for  the  allusion  ;  my  aunt  and  myself  being  the 
whales." 

"  You  know  I  do  mean — can  mean  nothing,  Rose,  that  is  dis- 
respectful to  either  yourself  or  your  aunt." 

Rose  looked  up,  and  she  looked  pleased.  Then  she  mused  in 
silence,  for  some  time,  when  she  again  spoke. 

"  Why  have  you  remained  another  voyage  with  such  a  man, 
Harry  ?"  she  asked,  earnestly. 

"  Because,  as  his  first  officer,  I  have  had  access  to  your  house, 
when  I  could  not  have  had  it  otherwise  ;  and  because  I  have 
apprehended  that  he  might  persuade  Mis.  Budd,  as  he  had 
boasted  to  me  it  was  his  intention  to  do,  to  make  this  voyage." 

Rose  now  looked  grateful ;  and  deeply  grateful  did  she  feel, 
and  had  reason  to  feel.  Harry  had  concealed  no  portion  of  his 
history  from  her.  Like  herself,  he  was  a  shipmaster's  child,  but 
one  better  educated  and  better  connected  than  was  customarv  for 
the  class.  His  father  had  paid  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  the 
vouth's  early  years,  but  had  made  a  seaman  of  him,  out  ot 
choice.  The  father  had  lost  his  all,  however,  with  his  life,  in  a 
shipwreck;  and  Han y  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  at  the 
early  age  of  twenty.  He  had  made  one  or  two  voyages  as  a 
second  mate,  when   chance  threw  him  in   Spike's  way,  who. 


84  JACK     TIER. 

pleased  with  some  evidences  of  coolness  and  skill,  that  he  had 
shown  in  a  foreign  port,  on  the  occasion  of  another  loss,  took 
him  as  his  first  officer ;  in  which  situation  he  had  remained 
ever  since,  partly  from  choice  and  partly  from  necessity.  On 
the  other  hand.  Rose  had  a  fortune  ;  hy  no  means  a  large  one, 
but  several  thousands  in  possession,  from  her  own  father,  and  as 
many  more  in  reversion  from  her  uncle.  It  was  this  money, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  credulous  imbecility  of  the  aunt, 
that  had  awakened  the  cupidity,  and  excited  the  hopes  of  Spike. 
After  a  life  of  lawless  adventuie,  one  that  had  been  checkered 
by  every  shade  of  luck,  he  found  himself  growing  old,  with 
his  brig  growing  old  with  him,  and  little  left  besides  his  vessel 
and  the  sort  of  half  cargo  that  was  in  her  hold.  Want  of 
means,  indeed,  was  the  reason  that  the  flour-barrels  wrere  not 
more  numerous. 

Rose  heard  Mulford's  explanation  favorably,  as  indeed  she 
heard  most  of  that  which  came  from  him,  but  did  not  renew 
the  discourse,  Spike's  conference  with  the  boatswain  just  then 
terminating.  The  captain  now  came  aft,  and  began  to  r.peak 
of  the  performances  of  his  vessel  in  a  way  to  show  that  he  took 
great  pride  in  them. 

"We  are  travelling  at  the  rate  of  ten  knots,  Madam  Budd," 
he  said  exultingly,  "  and  that  will  take  us  clear  of  the  land,  be- 
fore night  shuts  in  ag'in.  Montauk  is  a  good  place  for  an  offing; 
I  ask  for  no  better." 

"  Shall  we  then  have  tioo  offings,  this  voyage,  Captain  Spike?" 
asked  Rose,  a  little  sarcastically.  "  If  we  are  in  the  offing  now, 
and  are  to  be  in  the  offing  when  we  reach  Montauk,  there  must 
be  two  such  places." 

"  Rosy  dear,  you  amaze  me  !"  put  in  the  aunt.  "  There  ia 
no  offing  until  the  pilot  is  discharged,  and  when  he's  discharged 
there  is  nothing  but  offing.  It's  all  offing.  On  the  Sound,  is 
the  first  great  change  that  befalls  a  vessel  as  she  goes  to  sea ; 
then  comes  the  offing;  next  the  pilot  is  discharged — then — then 
— what  comes  next,  Captain  Spike  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  85 

"  Then  the  vessel  takes  her  departure — an  old  navigator  like 
yourself,  Madam  Budd,  ought  not  to  forget  the  departure." 

"  Quite  true,  sir.  The  departure  is  a  very  important  portion 
of  a  seaman's  life.  Often  and  often  have  I  heard  my  poor  dear 
Mr.  Budd  talk  about  his  departures.  His  departures,  and  his 
offings,  and  his — " 

"  Land-falls,"  added  Spike,  perceiving  that  the  shipmaster's 
relict  was  a  little  at  fault. 

"  Thank  you,  sir ;  the  hint  is  quite  welcome.  His  land-falls, 
also,  were  often  in  his  mouth." 

"  What  is  a  land-fall,  aunty  ?"  inquired  Rose.  "  It  appears  a 
strange  term  to  be  used  by  one  who  lives  on  the  water." 

"  Oh  !  there  is  no  end  to  the  curiosities  of  sailors  !  A  '  land- 
fall,' my  dear,  means  a  shipwreck,  of  course.  To  fall  on  the 
land,  and  a  very  unpleasant  fall  it  is,  when  a  vessel  should  keep 
on  the  water.  I've  heard  of  dreadful  land-falls  in  my  day,  in 
which  hundreds  of  souls  have  been  swept  into  eternity,  in  an 
instant." 

"  Yes ;  yes,  Madam  Budd — there  are  such  accidents  truly, 
and  serious  things  be  they  to  encounter,"  answered  Spike, 
hemming  a  little  to  clear  his  throat,  as  was  much  his  practice 
whenever  the  widow  ran  into  any  unusually  extravagant  blun- 
der ;  "  yes,  serious  things  to  encounter.  But  the  land-fall  that 
I  mean  is  a  different  sort  of  thing ;  being,  as  you  well  know, 
what  we  say  when  we  come  in  sight  of  land,  a'ter  a  v'y'ge ;  or, 
meaning  the  land  we  may  happen  first  to  see.  The  departure 
is  the  beginning  of  our  calculation  when  we  lose  sight  of  the 
last  cape  or  headland,  and  the  land-fall  closes  it,  by  letting  us 
know  where  we  are  at  the  other  end  of  our  journey,  as  you 
probably  remember." 

"  Is  there  not  such  a  thing  as  clearing  out  in  navigation  ?" 
asked  Rose,  quickly,  willing  to  cover  a  little  confusion  that  was 
manifest  in  her  aunt's  manner. 

"  Not  exactly  in  navigation,  Miss  Rose ;  but  clearing  out,  with 
honest  folk,  ought  to  come  first,  and  navigation  a'terwards. 


86  JACK     TIER. 

Clearing  out  means  going  through  the  Custom-house,  accordin' 
to  law." 

"And  the  Molly  Swash  has  cleared  out,  I  hope?" 
"  Sartain — a  more  lawful  clearance  was  never  given  in  Wall- 
street  ;  it's  for  Key  West  and  a  market.     I  did  think  of  making 
it  Havana  and  a  market,  hut  port-charges  are  lightest  at  Key 
West." 

"  Then  Key  West  is  the  place  to  which  we  are  hound  ?" 
"  It  ought  to  he,  agreeable  to  papers ;  though  vessels  some- 
times miss  the  ports  for  which  they  clear." 

Rose  put  no  more  questions ;  and  her  aunt  being  conscious 
that  she  had  not  appeared  to  advantage  in  the  affair  of  the 
"  land-fall,"  was  also  disposed  to  he  silent.  Spike  and  Mulford 
had  their  attention  drawn  to  the  vessel,  and  the  conversation 
dropped. 

The  reader  can  readily  suppose  that  the  Molly  Swash  had 
not  been  standing  still  all  this  time..  So  far  from  this,  she  was 
running  "  down  Sound,"  with  the  wind  on  her  quarter,  or  at 
southwest,  making  great  headway,  as  she  was  close  under  the 
south  shore,  or  on  the  island  side  of  the  water  she  was  in.  The 
vessel  had  no  other  motion  than  that  of  her  speed,  and  the 
females  escaped  every  thing  like  sea-sickness,  for  the  time  being. 
This  enabled  them  to  attend  to  making  certain  arrangements 
necessary  to  their  comforts  below,  previously  to  getting  into 
rough  water.  In  acquitting  herself  of  this  task,  Rose  received 
much  useful  advice  from  Josh,  though  his  new  assistant,  Jack 
Tier,  turned  out  to  be  a  prize  indeed,  in  the  cabins.  The  first 
was  only  a  steward ;  but  the  last  proved  himself  not  only  a 
handy  person  of  his  calling,  but  one  full  of  resources — a  genius, 
in  his  way.  Josh  soon  became  so  sensible  of  his  own  inferiority, 
in  contributing  to  the  comforts  of  females,  that  he  yielded  the 
entire  management  of  the  "  ladies'  cabin,"  as  a  little  place  that 
might  have  been  ten  feet  square,  was  called,  to  his  uncouth- 
looking,  but  really  expert  deputy.  Jack  waddled  about  below 
as  if  born  and  brought  up  in  such  a  place,  and  seemed  every 


JACK     TIER.  87 

way  fitted  for  his  office.  la  height,  and  iu  build  generally,  there 
was  a  surprising  conformity  between  the  widow  and  the  steward's 
deputy,  a  circumstance  which  might  induce  one  to  think  they 
must  often  have  been  in  each  other's  way,  in  a  space  so  small ; 
though,  in  point  of  fact,  Jack  never  ran  foul  of  any  one.  He 
seemed  to  avoid  this  inconvenience  by  a  species  of  nautical 
instinct. 

Towards  the  turn  of  the  day,  Rose  had  every  thing  arranged, 
and  was  surprised  to  find  how  much  room  she  had  made  for  her 
aunt  and  herself,  by  means  of  Jack's  hints,  and  how  much  more 
comfortable  it  was  possible  to  be,  in  that  small  cabin,  than  she 
had  at  first  supposed. 

After  dinner,  Spike  took  his  siesta.  lie  slept  in  a  little  state- 
room that  stood  on  the  starboard  side  of  the  quarter-deck,  quite 
aft ;  as  Mulford  did  in  one  on  the  larboard.  These  two  state- 
rooms were  fixtures ;  but  a  light  deck  overhead,  which  con- 
nected them,  shipped  and  unshipped,  forming  a  shelter  for  the 
man  at  the  wheel,  when  iu  its  place,  as  well  as  for  the  officer  of 
the  watch,  should  he  see  fit  to  use  it,  in  bad  weather.  This  sort 
of  cuddy,  Spike  termed  his  "  coach-house." 

The  captain  had  no  sooner  gone  into  his  stateroom,  and 
closed  its  window,  movements  that  were  understood  by  Mulford, 
than  the  latter  took  occasion  to  intimate  to  Rose,  by  means  of 
Jack  Tier,  the  state  of  things  on  deck,  when  the  young  man  was 
favored  with  the  lady's  company. 

"  lie  has  turned  in  for  his  afternoon's  nap,  and  will  sleep  for 
just  one  hour,  blow  high  or  blow  low,"  said  the  mate,  placing 
himself  at  Rose's  side  on  the  trunk,  which  formed  the  usual  seat 
for  those  who  could  presume  to  take  the  liberty  of  sitting  down 
on  the  quarter-deck.  "  It's  a  habit  with  him,  and  we  can  count 
on  it,  with  perfect  security." 

"  Ilis  doing  so,  now,  is  a  sign  that  he  has  no  immediate  fears 
:>f  the  revenue  steamer  2" 

"  The  coast  is  quite  clear  of  her.  We  have  taken  good  looks 
at  every  smoke,  but  can  see  nothing  that  appears  like  our  late 


83  JACK     TIER. 

companion.  She  has  doubtless  gone  to  the  eastward,  on  duty, 
and  merely  chased  us  on  her  road." 

"  But  why  should  she  chase  us  at  all  ?" 

"  Because  we  ran.  Let  a  dog  run,  or  a  man  run,  or  a  cat 
run,  ten  to  one  but  something  starts  in  chase.  It  is  human 
nature,  I  believe,  to  give  chase ;  though  I  will  admit  there  was 
something  suspicious  about  that  steamer's  movements — her  an- 
choring off  the  Fort,  for  instance.  But  let  her  go  for  the  present: 
are  you  getting  things  right,  and  to  your  mind,  below  decks  ?" 

"  Very  much  so.  The  cabin  is  small,  and  the  two  staterooms 
the  merest  drawers  that  ever  Avere  used,  but  by  putting  every 
thing  in  its  place,  we  have  made  sufficient  room,  and  no  doubi 
shall  be  comfortable." 

"  I  am  sorry  you  did  not  call  on  me  for  assistance.  The 
mate  has  a  prescriptive  right  to  help  stow  away." 

"  We  made  out  without  your  services,"  returned  Rose,  slightly 
blushing.  "Jack  Tier,  as  he  is  called,  Josh's  assistant,  is  a 
very  useful  person,  and  has  been  our  adviser  and  manager.  I 
want  no  better  for  such  services." 

"  He  is  a  queer  fellow,  all  round.  Take  him  all  together,  I 
hardly  ever  saw  so  droll  a  being  !  As  thick  as  he's  long,  with 
a  waddle  like  a  duck,  a  voice  that  is  cracked,  hair  like  bristles, 
and  knee  high ;  the  man  might  make  a  fortune  as  a  show. 
Tom  Thumb  is  scarcely  a  greater  curiosity." 

"  He  is  singular  in  build,  as  you  call  it,"  returned  Rose, 
laughing,  "but,  I  can  assure  you  that  he  is  a  most  excellent  fel- 
low in  his  way — worth  a  dozen  of  Josh.  Do  you  know,  Harry, 
that  I  suspect  he  has  strong  feelings  towards  Captain  Spike ; 
though  whether  of  like  or  dislike,  friendship  or  enmity,  I  am  at 
a  loss  to  say." 

"And  why  do  you  think  that  he  has  any  feeling  at  all?  I 
have  heard  Spike  say  he  left  the  fellow  ashore  somewhere  down 
on  the  Spanish  Main,  or  in  the  Islands,  quite  twenty  years 
since;  but  a  sailor  would  scarce  carry  a  grudge  so  long  a 
time,  for  such  a  thing  as  that." 


JACK     TIER.  89 

"  I  do  not  know — but  feeling  there  is,  and  much  of  it,  too ; 
though,  whether  hostile  or  friendly,  I  will  not  undertake  to  say." 

"  I'll  look  to  the  chap,  now  you  tell  me  this.  It  is  a  little 
odd,  the  manner  in  which  he  got  on  hoard  us,  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  company  he  was  in,  and  a  discovery  may  be 
made.  Here  he  is,  however ;  and,  as  I  keep  the  keys  of  tho 
magazine,  he  can  do  us  no  great  harm,  unless  he  scuttles  the 
brig." 

"  Magazine  !    Is  there  such  a  thing  here  ?" 

"To  be  sure  there  is,  and  ammunition  enough  in  it  to  keep 
eight  carronades  in  lively  conversation  for  a  couple  of  hours." 

"  A  carronade  is  what  you  call  a  gun,  is  it  not  ?" 

"  A  piece  of  a  one — being  somewhat  short,  like  your  friend, 
Jack  Tier,  who  is  shaped  a  good  deal  like  a  carronade." 

Rose  smiled — nay,  half  laughed,  for  Harry's  pleasantries 
almost  took  the  character  of  wit  in  her  eyes,  but  she  did  not 
the  less  presume  her  inquiries. 

"  Guns !    And  where  are  they,  if  they  be  on  this  vessel  ?" 

"Do  not  use  such  ajubberly  expression,  my  dear  Rose,  if 
you  respect  your  father's  profession.  On  a  vessel,  is  a  new-fan- 
gled Americanism,  that  is  neither  fish,  flesh,  nor  red-herring,  as 
we  sailors  say — neither  English  nor  Greek." 

"  What  should  I  say,  then  ?  My  wish  is  not  to  parade  sea- 
talk,  but  to  use  it  correctly  when  I  use  it  at  all." 

"  The  expression  is  hardly  '  sea-talk,'  as  you  call  it,  but  every- 
day English — that  is,  when  rightly  used.  On  a  vessel  is  no 
more  English  than  it  is  nautical — no  sailor  ever  used  such  an 
expression." 

"  Tell  me  what  I  ought  to  say,  and  you  will  find  me  a  willing, 
if  not  an  apt  scholar.  I  am  certain  of  having  often  read  it  in 
the  newspapers,  and  that  quite  lately." 

"  I'll  answer  for  that,  and  it's  another  proof  of  its  being  wrong. 
In  a  vessel  is  as  correct  as  in  a  coach,  and  on  a  vessel,  as  wrong 
as  can  be ;  but  you  can  say  on  board  a  vessel,  though  no'  '  on 
the  boards  of  a  vessel,'  as  Mrs.  Budd  has  it." 


00  JACK     TIER. 

"  Mr.  Mulford  !" 

"  I  beg  a  thousand  pardons,  Rose,  and  will  offend  no  more — 
though  she  does  make  some  very  queer  mistakes." 

"My  aunt  thinks  it  an  honor  to  my  uncle's  memory,  to  he 
able  to  use  the  language  of  his  professional  life  ;  and  if  she  does 
sometimes  make  mistakes  that  are  absurd,  it  is  with  motives  so 
respectable  that  no  sailor  should  deride  them." 

"  I  am  rebuked  forever.  Mrs.  Budd  may  call  the  anchor  a 
silver  spoon,  hereafter,  without  my  even  smiling.  But  if  the 
aunt  has  this  kind  remembrance  of  a  seaman's  life,  why  cannot 
the  niece  think  equally  well  of  it  ?" 

"  Perhaps  she  does,"  returned  Rose,  smiling  again — "  seeing 
all  its  attractions  through  the  claims  of  Captain  Spike." 

"  I  think  half  the  danger  from  him  gone,  now  that  you  seem 
so  much  on  your  guard.  What  an  odious  piece  of  deception, 
to  persuade  Mrs.  Budd  that  you  were  fast  falling  into  a  decline !" 

"  One  so  odious,  that  I  shall  surely'  quit  the  brig  at  the  first 
port  we  enter,  or  even  in  the  first  suitable  vessel  that  we  may 
speak." 

"And  Mrs. Budd — could  you  persuade  her  to  such  a  course?" 

"  You  scarce  know  us,  Ilarry  Mulford.  My  aunt  commands, 
when  there  is  no  serious  duty  to  perform ;  but  we  change  places 
when  there  is.  I  can  persuade  her  to  any  thing  that  is  right,  in 
ten  minutes." 

"  You  might  persuade  a  world  !"  cried  Harry,  with  strong 
admiration  expressed  in  his  countenance ;  after  whicb  he  began 
to  converse  with  Rose,  on  a  subject  so  interesting  to  themselves, 
that  we  do  not  think  it  prudent  to  relate  any  more  of  the  dis- 
course, forgetting  all  about  the  guns. 

About  four  o'clock,  of  a  fine  summer's  afternoon,  the  Swash 
went  through  the  Race,  on  the  best  of  the  ebb,  and  with  a  stag- 
gering southwest  wind.  Her  movement  by  the  land,  just  at 
that  point,  could  not  have  been  less  than  at  the  rate  of  fifteen 
miles  in  the  hour.  Spike  was  in  high  spirits,  for  his  brig  had 
got  on  famously  that  day,  and  there  was  nothing  in  sight  to  the 


JACK     TIER.  Ul 

eastward,  lie  made  no  doubt,  as  he  had  told  his  mate,  that 
the  steamer  had  gone  into  the  Vineyard  Sound,  and  that  she 
was  bound  over  the  shoals. 

"  They  want  to  make  political  capital  out  of  her,"  he  added, 
using  one  of  the  slang  phrases  that  the  "  business  habits"  of  the 
American  people  are  so  rapidly  incorporating  with  the  common 
language  of  the  country — "  They  want  to  make  political  capital 
out  of  her,  Harry,  and  must  show  her  off  to  the  Boston  folk, 
who  are  full  of  notions.  Well,  let  them  turn  her  to  as  much 
account  in  that  way  as  they  please,  so  long  as  they  keep  her 
clear  of  the  Molly.  Your  sarvant,  Madam  Budd" — addressing 
the  widow,  who  just  at  that  moment  came  on  deck — "  a  fine 
a'ternoon,  and  likely  to  be  a  clear  night  to  run  off  the  coast  in." 

"  Clear  nights  are  desirable,  and  most  of  all  at  sea,  Captain 
Spike,"  returned  the  relict,  in  her  best,  complacent  manner, 
"  whether  it  be  to  run  off  a,  coast,  or  to  run  on  a  coast.  In  either 
case,  a  clear  night  or  a  bright  moon  must  be  useful." 

Captain  Spike  rolled  his  tobacco  over  in  his  mouth,  and  cast 
a  furtive  glance  at  the  mate,  but  he  did  not  presume  to  hazard 
any  further  manifestations  of  his  disposition  to  laugh. 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd,"  he  answered,  "  it  is  quite  as  you  say 
and  I  am  only  surprised  where  you  have  picked  up  so  much  of 
what  I  call  useful  nautical  knowledge." 

"  We  live  and  learn,  sir.  You  will  recollect  that  this  is  not 
my  first  voyage,  having  made  one  before,  and  that  I  passed  a 
happy,  happy  thirty  years,  in  the  society  of  my  poor  dear  hus- 
band, Rose's  uncle.  One  must  have  been  dull,  indeed,  not  to 
have  picked  up,  from  such  a  companion,  much  of  a  calling  that 
was  so  dear  to  him,  and  the  particulars  of  which  were  so  very 
dear  to  him.  He  actually  gave  me  lessons  in  the  '  sea  dialect,' 
as  he  called  it,  which  probably  is  the  true  reason  I  am  so  accu- 
rate and  general  in  my  acquisitions." 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd — yes — hem — you  are — yes,  you  are  won- 
derful in  that  way.  We  shall  soon  get  an  offing  now,  Madam 
Budd — yes,  soon  get  an  offing,  now." 


92  J  A  C  K     TIER. 

"  And  take  in  our  departure,  Captain  Spike,"  added  the 
widow,  with  a  very  intelligent  smile. 

"  Yes,  take  our  departure.  Montauk  is  yonder,  just  coming 
in  sight ;  only  some  three  hours'  run  from  this  spot.  When 
we  get  there,  the  open  ocean  will  lie  before  us ;  and  give  me 
the  open  sea,  and  I'll  not  call  the  king  my  uncle." 

"  Was  he  your  uncle,  Captain  Spike  ?" 

"  Only  in  a  philanthropic  way,  Madam  Budd.  Yes,  let  us 
get  a  good  offing,  and  a  rapping  to'gallant  breeze,  and  I  do  not 
think  I  should  care  much  for  two  of  Uncle  Sam's  new-fashioned 
revenue  craft,  one  on  each  side  of  me." 

"  How  delightful  do  I  find  such  conversation,  Rose  !  It's  as 
much  like  your  poor  dear  uncle's,  as  one  pea  is  like  another. 
'  Yes,'  he  used  to  say,  too,  '  let  me  only  have  one  on  each  side 
of  me,  and  a  wrapper  round  the  topgallant-sail  to  hold  the 
breeze,  and  I'd  not  call  the  king  my  uncle.'  Now  I  think  of  it, 
he  used  to  talk  about  the  king  as  his. uncle,  too." 

"  It  was  all  talk,  aunty  ;  he  had  no  uncle,  and,  what  is  more, 
he  had  no  king." 

"  That's  quite  true,  Miss  Rose,"  rejoined  Spike,  attempting  a 
bow,  which  ended  in  a  sort  of  jerk;  "it  is  not  very  becoming  in 
us  republicans  to  be  talking  of  kings,  but  a  habit  is  a  habit. 
Our  forefathers  had  kings,  and  we  drop  into  their  ways  with- 
out thinking  of  what  we  are  doing.  Fore-topgallant  yard, 
there  !" 

"  Sir." 

"  Keep  a  bright  look-out,  ahead.  Let  me  know  the  instant 
you  make  any  thing  in  the  neighborhood  of  Montauk." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"  As  I  was  saying,  Madam  Budd,  we  seamen  drop  into  our 
forefathers'  ways.  Now,  when  I  was  a  youngster,  I  remember, 
one  day,  that  we  fell  in  with  a  ketch — you  know,  Miss  Rose, 
what  a  ketch  is,  I  suppose  ?" 

"  I  have  not  the  least  notion  of  it,  sir." 

"  Rosy,  you  amaze  me  !"  exclaimed  the  aunt — "  and  you  a 


JACK     TIER.  93 

shipmaster's  niece,  and  a  shipmaster's  daughter !  A  catch  is 
a  trick  that  sailors  have  when  they  quiz  landsmen." 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd,  yes ;  we  have  them  sort  of  catches,  too ; 
but  I  now  mean  the  vessel  with  a  peculiar  rig,  which  we  call  a 
ketch,  you  know." 

"  Is  it  the  full-jigger,  or  the  half-jigger  sort,  that  you  mean  ?" 

Spike  could  hardly  stand  this,  and  he  had  to  hail  the  top- 
gallant yard  again,  in  order  to  keep  the  command  of  his  muscles, 
for  he  saw  by  the  pretty  frown  that  was  gathering  on  the  brow 
of  Rose,  that  she  was  regarding  the  matter  a  little  seriously. 
Luckily,  the  answer  of  the  man  on  the  yard  diverted  the  mind 
of  the  widow  from  the  subject,  and  prevented  the  necessity  of 
any  reply. 

"  There's  a  light,  of  course,  sir,  on  Montauk,  is  there  not, 
Captain  Spike  ?"  demanded  the  seaman  who  was  aloft. 

"  To  be  sure  there  is — every  headland,  hereabouts,  has  its 
light ;  and  some  have  two." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir — it's  that  which  puzzles  me  ;  I  think  I  see  one 
lighthouse,  and  I'm  not  certain  but  I  see  two." 

"  If  there  is  any  thing  like  a  second,  it  must  be  a  sail.  Mon- 
tauk has  but  one  light." 

Mulford  sprang  into  the  fore-rigging,  and  in  a  minute  was  on 
the  yard.  He  soon  came  down,  and  reported  the  lighthouse 
in  sight,  with  the  afternoon's  sun  shining  on  it,  but  no  sail 
near. 

"  My  poor  dear  Mr.  Budd  used  to  tell  a  story  of  his  being 
cast  away  on  a  lighthouse,  in  the  East  Indies,"  put  in  the  relict 
as  soon  as  the  mate  had  ended  his  report,  "  which  always  affected 
me.  It  seems  there  were  three  ships  of  them  together,  in  an 
awful  tempest  directly  off  the  land — " 

"  That  was  comfortable,  any  how,"  cried  Spike  ; — "  if  it  must 
blow  hard,  let  it  come  off  the  land,  say  I." 

"  Yes,  sir,  it  was  directly  off  the  land,  as  my  poor  husband  al- 
ways said,  which  made  it  so  much  the  worse,  you  must  know, 
Rosy ;  though  Captain  Spike's  gallant  spirit  would  rather  en- 


04  JACK     TIER. 

counter  danger  than  not.  It  blew  what  they  call  a  Dyson,  in 
the  Chinese  seas — " 

"  A  what,  aunty  ? — Dyson  is  the  name  of  a  tea,  you  know." 

"  A  Dyson,  I'm  pretty  sure,  it  was ;  and  I  suppose  the  wind 
is  named  after  the  tea,  or  the  tea  after  the  wind." 

"  The  ladies  do  get  in  a  gale,  sometimes,  over  their  tea,"  said 
Spike,  gallantly  ;  "  but  I  rather  think  Madam  Budd  must  mean 
a  Typhoon." 

"  That's  it — a  Typhoon,  or  a  Dyson — there  is  not  much  dif- 
ference between  them,  you  see.  Well,  it  blew  a  Typhoon,  and 
they  are  always  mortal  to  somebody !  This  my  poor  Mr.  Budd 
well  knew,  and  he  had  set  his  chronometer  for  that  Typhoon — " 

"  Excuse  me,  aunty,  it  was  the  barometer  that  he  was  watch- 
ing— the  chronometer  was  his  watch." 

"  So  it  was — his  watch  on  deck  was  his  chronometer,  I  de- 
clare. I  am  forgetting  a  part  of  my  education.  Do  you  know 
the  use  of  a  chronometer,  now,  Rose  ?  You  have  seen  your 
uncle's  often,  but  do  you  know  how  he  used  it  ?" 

"  Not  in  the  least,  aunty.  My  uncle  often  tried  to  explain  it, 
but  I  never  could  understand  him." 

"  It  must  have  been,  then,  because  Captain  Budd  did  not  try 
to  make  himself  comprehended,"  said  Mulford,  "  for  I  feel  cer- 
tain nothing  wrould  be  easier  than  to  make  you  understand  the 
uses  of  the  chronometer." 

"  I  should  like  to  learn  it  from  you,  Mr.  Mulford,"  answered 
the  charming  girl,  with  an  emphasis  so  slight  on  the  '  you,'  that 
no  one  observed  it  but  the  mate,  but  which  was  clear  enough 
to  him,  and  caused  every  nerve  to  thrill. 

"  I  can  attempt  it,"  answered  the  young  man,  "  if  it  be  agreea- 
ble to  Mrs.  Budd,  who  would  probably  like  to  hear  it  herself." 

"  Certainly,  Mr.  Mulford ;  though  I  fancy  you  can  say  little 
or.  such  a  subject  that  I  have  not  often  heard  already,  from  my 
poor  dear  Mr.  Budd." 

This  was  not  very  encouraging,  truly ;  but  Rose  continuing 
to  look  interested,  the  mate  proceeded. 


JACK     TIER.  95 

"  The  use  of  the  chronometer  is  to  ascertain  the  longitude," 
said  Harry,  "  and  the  manner  of  doing  it  is  simply  this :  A 
chronometer  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  watch,  made  with 
more  care  than  usual,  so  as  to  keep  the  most  accurate  time. 
They  are  of  all  sizes,  from  that  of  a  clock,  down  to  this  which 
I  wear  in  my  fob,  and  which  is  a  watch  in  size  and  appearance. 
Now,  the  nautical  almanacs  are  all  calculated  to  some  particular 
meridian — " 

"  Yes,"  interrupted  the  relict,  "  Mr.  Budd  had  a  great  deal  to 
say  about  meridians." 

"  That  of  London,  or  Greenwich,  being  the  meridian  used  by 
those  who  use  the  English  Almanacs,  and  those  of  Paris  or  St. 
Petersburg,  by  the  French  and  Russians.  Each  of  these  places 
has  an  observatory,  and  chronometers  that  are  kept  carefully 
regulated,  the  year  round.  Every  chronometer  is  set  by  the 
regulator  of  the  particular  observatory  or  place  to  which  the 
almanac  used  is  calculated." 

"  How  wonderfully  like  my  poor  dear  Mr.  Budd,  all  this  is, 
.Rosy  !  Meridians,  and  calculated,  and  almanacs  !  I  could  al- 
most think  I  heard  your  uncle  entertaining  me  with  one  of  his 
nautical  discussions,  I  declare  !" 

"  Now  the  sun  rises  earlier  in  places  east,  than  in  places  west 
of  us." 

"It  rises  earlier  in  the  summer,  but  later  in  the  winter,  every- 
where, Mr.  Mulford." 

"  Yes,  my  dear  Madam  ;  but  the  sun  rises  earlier  every  day, 
in  London,  than  it  does  in  New  York." 

"That  is  impossible,"  said  the  widow,  dogmatically :  "why 
should  not  the  sun  rise  at  the  same  time  in  England  and 
America  ?" 

"  Because  England  is  east  of  America,  aunty.  The  sun  does 
not  move,  you  know,  but  only  appears  to  us  to  move,  because 
the  earth  turns  round  from  west  to  east,  which  causes  those 
who  are  farthest  east  to  see  it  first.  That  is  what  Mr.  Mul- 
ford means." 


96  JACK     TIEK. 

"  Rose  has  explained  it  perfectly  well,"  continued  the  mate. 
"Now  the  earth  is  divided  into  360  degrees,  and  the  day  is  di- 
vided into  24  hours.  If  360  be  divided  by  24,  the  quotient  will 
be  15.  It  follows  that,  for  each  fifteen  degrees  of  longitude, 
there  is  a  difference  of  just  one  hour  in  the  rising  of  the  sun  all 
over  the  earth,  where  it  rises  at  all.  New  York  is  near  five 
times  15  degrees  west  of  Greenwich,  and  the  sun  consequently 
rises  five  hours  later  at  New  York  than  at  London." 

"  There  must  be  a  mistake  in  this,  Rosy,"  said  the  relict,  in  a 
tone  of  desperate  resignation,  in  which  the  desire  to  break  out 
in  dissent  was  struggling  oddly  enough  with  an  assumed  dignity 
of  deportment.  "  I've  always  heard  that  the  people  of  London 
are  some  of  the  latest  in  the  world.  Then,  I've  been  in  Lon- 
don, and  know  that  the  sun  rises  in  New  York,  in  December,  a 
good  deal  earlier  than  it  does  in  London,  by  the  clock — yes,  by 
the  clock." 

"  True  enough,  by  the  clock,  Mrs.  Budd,  for  London  is  more 
than  ten  degrees  north  of  New  York,  and  the  farther  north 
you  go,  the  later  the  sun  rises  in  winter,  and  the  earlier  in 
summer." 

The  relict  merely  shrugged  her  shoulders,  as  much  as  to  say 
that  she  knew  no  such  thing ;  but  Rose,  who  had  been  well 
taught,  raised  her  serene  eyes  to  her  aunt's  face,  and  mildly 
said — 

"  All  true,  aunty,  and  that  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  earth 
is  smaller  at  each  end  than  in  the  middle." 

"  Fiddle  faddle  with  your  middles  and  ends,  Rose — I've  been 
in  London,  dear,  and  know  that  the  sun  rises  later  there  than  in 
New  York,  in  the  month  of  December,  and  that  I  know  by  the 
clock,  I  tell  you." 

"  The  reason  of  which  is,"  resumed  Mulford,  "  because  the 
clocks  of  each  place  keep  the  time  of  that  place.  Now,  it  is 
different  with  the  chronometers  ;  they  are  set  in  the  observatory 
of  Greenwich,  and  keep  the  time  of  Greenwich.  This  watch 
chronometer  was  set  there,  only  six  months  since ;  and  this 


JACK     TIER.  97 

time,  as  you  see,  is  near  nine  o'clock,  when  in  truth  it  is  only 
about  four  o'clock  here,  where  we  are." 

"  I  wonder  you  keep  such  a  watch,  Mr.  Mulford !" 

"  I  keep  it,"  returned  the  mate,  smiling,  "  because  I  know  it 
to  keep  good  time.  It  has  the  Greenwich  time  ;  and,  as  your 
watch  has  the  New  York  time,  by  comparing  them  together,  it 
is  quite  easy  to  find  the  longitude  of  New  York." 

"  Do  you,  then,  keep  watches  to  compare  with  your  chronom- 
eters ?"  asked  Rose,  with  interest. 

"  Certainly  not ;  as  that  would  require  a  watch  for  every 
separate  part  of  the  ocean,  and  then  we  should  only  get  known 
longitudes.  It  would  be  impracticable,  and  load  a  ship  with 
nothing  but  watches.  What  we  do  is  this :  We  set  our  chro- 
nometers at  Greenwich,  and  thus  keep  the  Greenwich  true  time 
wherever  we  go.  The  greatest  attention  is  paid  to  the  chro- 
nometers, to  see  that  they  receive  no  injuries;  and  usually  there 
are  two,  and  often  more  of  them,  to  compare  one  with  another, 
in  order  to  see  that  they  go  well.  When  in  the  middle  of  the 
ocean,  for  instance,  we  find  the  true  time  of  the  day  at  that 
spot,  by  ascertaining  the  height  of  the  sun.  This  we  do  by 
means  of  our  quadrants,  or  sextants ;  for,  as  the  sun  is  always 
in  the  zenith  at  twelve  o'clock,  nothing  is  easier  than  to  do  this, 
when  the  sun  can  be  seen,  and  an  arc  of  the  heavens  measured. 
At  the  instant  the  height  of  the  sun  is  ascertained  by  one  ob- 
server, he  calls  to  another,  who  notes  the  time  on  the  chronom- 
eter. The  difference  in  these  two  times,  or  that  of  the  chro- 
nometer and  that  of  the  sun,  gives  the  distance  in  degrees  and 
minutes,  between  the  longitude  of  Greenwich  and  that  of  the 
place  on  the  ocean  where  the  observer  is ;  and  that  gives  him 
his  longitude.  If  the  difference  is  three  hours  and  twenty 
minutes  in  time,  the  distance  from  Greenwich  is  fifty  degrees  of 
longitude,  because  the  sun  rises  three  hours  and  twenty  min- 
utes sooner  in  London,  than  in  the  fiftieth  degree  of  west 
longitude." 

"A  watch  is  a  watch,  Rosy,"  put  in  the  aunt,  dogsxedlv; 
5 


98  JACK     TIEK. 

"  and  time  is  time.  When  it's  four  o'clock  at  our  house,  it's 
four  o'clock  at  your  aunt  Sprague's,  and  it's  so  all  over  the  world. 
The  world  may  turn  round — I'll  not  deny  it,  for  your  uncle 
often  said  as  much  as  that,  but  it  cannot  turn  in  the  way  Mr. 
Mulford  says,  or  we  should  all  fall  off  it,  at  night,  when  it  was 
bottom  upwards.  No,  sir,  no ;  you've  started  wrong.  My  poor 
dear  late  Mr.  Budd  always  admitted  that  the  world  turned  round, 
as  the  books  say ;  but  when  I  suggested  to  him  the  difficulty  ot 
keeping  things  in  their  places,  with  the  earth  upside  down,  he 
acknowledged  candidly — for  he  was  all  candor,  I  must  say  that 
for  him — and  owned  that  he  had  made  a  discovery  by  means  of 
his  barometer,  which  showed  that  the  world  did  not  turn  round 
in  the  way  you  describe,  or  by  rolling  over,  but  by  whirling 
about,  as  one  turns  in  a  dance.  You  must  remember  your 
uncle's  telling  me  this,  Rose  ?" 

Rose  did  remember  her  uncle's  telling  her  aunt  this,  as  well 
as  a  great  many  other  similar  prodigies.  Captain  Budd  had 
married  his  silly  wife  on  account  of  her  pretty  face,  and  when 
the  novelty  of  that  was  over,  he  often  amused  himself  by  in- 
venting all  sorts  of  absurdities,  to  amuse  both  her  and  himself. 
Among  other  things,  Rose  well  remembered  his  quieting  her 
aunt's  scruples  about  falling  off  the  earth,  by  laying  down  the 
theory  that  the  world  did  not  "  roll  over,"  but  "  whirl  round." 
But  Rose  did  not  answer  the  question. 

"  Objects  are  kept  in  their  places  on  the  earth  by  means  of 
attraction,"  Mulford  ventured  to  say,  with  a  great  deal  of  hu- 
mility of  manner.  "  I  believe  it  is  thought  there  is  no  up  or 
down,  except  as  we  go  from  or  towards  the  earth ;  and  that 
would  make  the  position  of  the  last  a  matter  of  indifference,  as 
respects  objects  keeping  on  it." 

"Attractions  are  great  advantages,  I  will  own,  sir,  especially 
to  our  sex.  I  think  it  will  be  acknowledged  there  has  been  no 
want  of  them  in  our  family,  any  more  than  there  has  been  of 
sense  and  information.  Sense  and  information  we  pride  our- 
selves on;  attractions  being  gifts  from  God,  we  try  to  think  less 


JACK     TIER.  99 

of  them.  But  all  the  attractions  in  the  world  could  not  keep 
Rosy,  here,  from  falling  off  the  earth,  did  it  ever  come  bottom 
upwards.     And,  mercy  on  me,  where  would  she  fall  to !" 

Mulford  saw  that  argument  was  useless,  and  he  confined  his 
remarks,  during  the  rest  of  the  conversation,  to  showing  Rose 
the  manner  in  which  the  longitude  of  a  place  might  be  ascer- 
tained, with  the  aid  of  the  chronometer,  and  by  means  of  ob- 
servations to  get  the  true  time  of  day,  at  the  particular  place 
itself.  Rose  was  so  quick-witted,  and  already  so  well  instructed, 
as  easily  to- comprehend  the  principles;  the  details  being  mat- 
ters of  no  great  moment  to  one  of  her  sex  and  habits.  But 
Mrs.  Budd  remained  antagonist  to  the  last.  She  obstinately 
maintained  that  twelve  o'clock  was  twelve  o'clock;  or,  if  there 
was  any  difference,  "  London  hours  were  notoriously  later  than 
those  of  New  York." 

Against  such  assertions  arguments  were  obviously  useless,  and 
Mulford,  perceiving  that  Rose  began  to  fidget,  had  sufficient  tact 
to  change  the  conversation  altogether. 

And  still  the  Molly  Swash  kept  in  swift  motion.  Montauk 
was  by  this  time  abeam,  and  the  little  brigantiue  began  to  rise 
and  fall,  on  the  long  swells  of  the  Atlantic,  which  now  opened 
before  her,  in  one  vast  sheet  of  green  and  rolling  waters.  On 
her  right  lay  the  termination  of  Long  Island ;  a  low,  rocky 
cape,  with  its  light,  a  few  fields  in  tillage  for  the  uses  of  those 
who  tended  it.  It  was  the  "  land's  end"  of  New  York,  while 
the  island  that  was  heaving  up  out  of  the  sea,  at  a  distance  of 
about  twenty  miles  to  the  eastward,  was  the  property  of  Rhode 
Island,  being  called  Blok  Island.  Between  the  two,  the  Swash 
shaped  her  course  for  the  ocean. 

Spike  had  betrayed  uneasiness,  as  his  brig  came  up  with 
Montauk ;  but  the  coast  seemed  clear,  with  not  even  a  distant 
sail  in  sight,  and  he  came  aft,  rubbing  his  hands  with  delight, 
speaking  cheerfully. 

"  All  right,  Mr.  Mulford,"  he  cried — "  every  thing  ship-shape 
and  brister-fashion — not  even  a  smack  fishing  hereaway,  which 


100  JACK     TIER. 

is  a  little  remarkable.     Ha! — what  are  you  staring  at,  over  the 
quarter,  there  ?" 

"  Look  here,  sir,  directly  in  the  wake  of  the  setting  sun, 
which  we  are  now  opening  from  the  land — is  not  that  a 
sail?" 

"  Sail !  Impossible,  sir.  What  should  a  sail  be  doing  in 
there,  so  near  Montauk — no  man  ever  saw  a  sail  there  in  his 
life.  It's  a  spot  in  the  sun,  Madam  Budd,  that  my  mate  has 
got  a  glimpse  at,  and,  sailor-like,  he  mistakes  it  for  a  sail ! 
Ha — ha — ha — yes,  Harry,  it's  a  spot  in  the  sun." 

"  It  is  a  spot  on  the  sun,  as  you  say,  but  it's  a  spot  made  by  a 
vessel ;  and  here  is  a  boat  pulling  towards  her,  might  and 
main — going  from  the  light,  as  if  carrying  news." 

It  was  no  longer  possible  for  Spike's  hopes  to  deceive  him. 
There  was  a  vessel,  sure  enough ;  though,  when  first  seen,  it 
was  so  directly  in  a  line  with  the  fiery  orb  of  the  setting  sun,  as 
to  escape  common  observation.  As  the  brig  went  foaming  on 
towards  the  ocean,  however,  the  black  speck  was  soon  brought 
out  of  the  range  of  the  orb  of  day,  and  Spike's  glass  was  in- 
stantly levelled  at  it. 

"Just  as  one  might  expect,  Mr.  Mulford,"  cried  the  captain, 
lowering  his  glass,  and  looking  aloft  to  see  what  could  be  done 
to  help  his  craft  along ;  "  a  bloody  revenue  cutter,  as  I'm  a 
wicked  sinner !  There  she  lies,  sir,  within  musket-shot  of  the 
shore,  hid  behind  the  point,  as  it  might  be  in  waiting  for  us, 
with  her  head  to  the  southward,  her  helm  hard  down,  topsail 
aback,  and  foresail  brailed ;  as  wicked  looking  a  thing  as  Free 
Trade  and  Sailors'  Rights  ever  ran  from.  My  life  on  it,  sir,  she's 
been  put  in  that  precise  spot,  in  waiting  for  the  Molly  to  arrive. 
You  see,  as  we  stand  on,  it  places  her  as  handsomely  to  wind- 
ward of  us,  as  the  heart  of  man  could  desire." 

"  It  is  a  revenue  cutter,  sir ;  now  she's  out  of  the  sun's  wake, 
that  is  plain  enough.  And  that  is  her  boat  which  has  been 
sent  to  the  light  to  keep  a  look-out  for  us.  Well,  sir,  she's  tc 
windward  ;  but  we  have  every  thing  set  for  our  course,  au<? 


JACK     T  IE  R.  101 

as  we  are  fairly  abeam,  she  must  be  a  great  traveller  to  over- 
haul us." 

"  I  thought  these  bloody  cutters  were  all  clown  in  the  Gulf," 
growled  the  captain,  casting  his  eye  aloft  again,  to  see  that  every 
thing  drew.  "  I'm  sure  the  newspapers  have  mentioned  as 
many  as  twenty  that  are  down  there,  and  here  is  one,  lying  be- 
hind Montauk,  like  a  snake  in  the  grass  !" 

"At  any  rate,  by  the  time  he  gets  his  boat  up  we  shall  get 
the  start  of  him — ay,  there  he  fills  and  falls  off,  to  go  and 
meet  her.  He'll  soon  be  after  us,  Captain  Spike,  at  racing 
speed." 

Every  thing  occurred  as  those  two  mariners  had  foreseen. 
The  revenue  cutter,  one  of  the  usual  fore-topsail  schooners  that 
are  employed  in  that  service,  up  and  down  the  coast,  had  no 
sooner  hoisted  up  her  boat,  than  she  made  sail,  a  little  off  the 
wind,  on  a  line  to  close  with  the  Swash.  As  for  the  brig,  she  had 
hauled  up  to  an  easy  bowline,  as  she  came  round  Montauk,  and 
was  now  standing  off  south-southeast,  still  having  the  wind  at 
southwest.  The  weatherly  position  of  the  cutter  enabled  her  to 
steer  rather  more  than  one  point  freer.  At  the  commencement 
of  this  chase,  the  vessels  were  about  a  mile  and  a  half  apart,  a 
distance  too  great  to  enable  the  cutter  to  render  the  light  guns 
she  carried  available,  and  it  was  obvious  from  the  first,  that  eveiy 
thing  depended  on  speed.  And  speed  it  was  truly ;  both  ves- 
sels fairly  flying;  the  Molly  Swash  having  at  last  met  with 
something  very  like  her  match.  Half  an  hour  satisfied  both 
Spike  and  Mulford  that,  by  giving  the  cutter  the  advantage  of 
one  point  in  a  freer  wind,  she  would  certainly  get  alongside  of 
them,  and  the  alternative  was  therefore  to  keep  off. 

"A  starn  chase  is  a  long  chase,  all  the  world  over,"  cried 
Spike — "  edge  away,  oir ;  edge  away,  sir,  and  bring  the  cutter 
well  on  our  quarter." 

This  order  was  obeyed ;  but,  to  the  surprise  of  those  in  the 
Swash,  the  cutter  did  not  exactly  follow,  though  she  kept  off  a 
little  more.    Her  object  seemed  to  be  to  maintain  her  weatherly 


102  JACK     TIER. 

position,  aud  iu  this  manner  the  two  vessels  ran  on  for  an  houi 
longer,  until  the  Swash  had  made  most  of  the  distance  between 
Montauk  and  Blok  Island.  Objects  were  even  becoming  dimly 
visible  on  the  last,  and  the  light  on  the  point  was  just  becoming 
visible,  a  lone  star  above  a  waste  of  desert,  the  sun  having  been 
down  now  fully  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  twilight  beginning  tc 
draw  the  curtain  of  night  over  the  waters. 

"A  craft  under  Blok,"  shouted  the  look-out,  that  was  still 
kept  aloft  as  a  necessary  precaution. 

"  What  sort  of  a  craft  ?"  demanded  Spike,  fiercely ;  for  the 
very  mention  of  a  sail,  at  that  moment,  aroused  all  his  ire. 
"Aren't  you  making  a  frigate  out  of  an  apple-orchard?" 

"  It's  the  steamer,  sir.  I  can  now  see  her  smoke.  She's 
just  clearing  the  land,  on  the  south  side  of  the  island,  and  seems 
to  be  coming  round  to  meet  us." 

A  long,  low,  eloquent  whistle  from  the  captain,  succeeded  this 
announcement.  The  man  aloft  was  right.  It  was  the  steamer, 
sure  enough  ;  and  she  had  been  lying  hid  behind  Blok  Island, 
exactly  as  her  consort  had  been  placed  behind  Montauk,  in 
waiting  for  their  chase  to  arrive.  The  result  was,  to  put  the 
Molly  Swash  in  exceeding  jeopardy,  and  the  reason  why  the 
cutter  kept  so  well  to  windward  was  fully  explained.  To  pass 
out  to  sea  between  these  two  craft  was  hopeless.  There  re- 
mained but  a'  single  alternative  from  capture  by  one  or  by  the 
other,  and  that  Spike  adopted  instantly.  He  kept  his  brig  dead 
away,  setting  studding-sails  on  both  sides.  This  change  of 
course  brought  the  cutter  nearly  aft,  or  somewhat  on  the  other 
quarter,  and  laid  the  brig's  head  in  a  direction  to  carry  her 
close  to  the  northern  coast  of  the  island.  But  the  principal 
advantage  was  gained  over  the  steamer,  which  could  not  keep 
off,  without  first  standing  a  mile  or  two,  or  even  more,  to  the 
westward,  in  order  to  clear  the  land.  This  was  so  much  clear 
gain  to  the  Swash,  which  was  running  off  at  racing  speed,  on  a 
northeast  course,  while  her  most  dangerous  enemy  was  still 
heading  to  the  westward.     As  for  the  cutter,  she  kept  away ; 


JACK     TIER.  103 

but  it  was  soon  apparent  that  the  brig  had  the  heels  of  her, 
dead  before  the  wind. 

Darkness  now  began  to  close  around  the  three  vessels ;  the 
briar  and  the  schooner  soon  becoming  visible  to  each  other 
principally  by  means  of  their  night-glasses,  though  the  steamer's 
position  could  be  easily  distinguished  by  means  of  her  flaming 
chimney.  This  latter  vessel  stood  to  the  westward  for  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  when  her  commander  appeared  to  become  suddenly 
conscious  of  the  ground  he  was  losing,  and  he  wore  short  round, 
and  went  off  before  the  wind,  under  steam  and  canvas,  intending 
to  meet  the  chase  off  the  northern  side  of  the  island.  The  very 
person  who  had  hailed  the  Swash,  as  she  was  leaving  the  wharf, 
who  had  passed  her  in  Hell-Gate,  with  Jack  Tier  in  his  boat, 
and  who  had  joined  her  off  Throgmorton's,  was  now  on  her 
deck,  urging  her  commander  by  every  consideration  not  to  let 
the  brig  escape.  It  was  at  his  suggestion  that  the  course  was 
changed.  Nervous,  and  eager  to  seize  the  brig,  he  prevailed  on 
the  commander  of  the  steamer  to  alter  his  course.  Had  he 
done  no  more  than  this,  all  might  have  been  well ;  but  so 
exaggerated  were  his  notions  of  the  Swash's  sailing,  that,  instead 
of  suffering  the  steamer  to  keep  close  along  the  eastern  side  of 
the  island,  he  persuaded  her-  commander  of  the  necessity  of 
standing  off  a  long  distance  to  the  northward  and  eastward, 
with  a  view  to  get  ahead  of  the  chase.  This  was  not  bad 
advice,  were  there  any  certaiuty  that  Spike  would  stand  on,  of 
which,  however,  he  had  no  intention. 

The  night  set  in  dark  and  cloudy ;  and  the  instant  that  Spike 
saw,  by  means  of  the  flaming  chimney,  that  the  steamer  had 
wore,  and  was  going  to  the  eastward  of  Blok,  his  plan  was  laid. 
Calling  to  Mulford,  he  communicated  it  to  him,  and  was  glad 
o  find  that  his  intelligent  mate  was  of  his  own  way  of  thinking. 
The  necessary  orders  were  given,  accordingly,  and  every  thing 
was  got  ready  for  its  execution. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  two  revenue  craft  were  much  in  earnest. 
The  schooner  was  one  of  the  fastest  in  the  service,  and  had  beec 


104  JACK     TIER. 

placed  under  Montauk,  as  described,  in  the  confident  expectation 
of  lier  being  able  to  compete  with  even  the  Molly  Swash  suc- 
cessfully, more  especially  if  brought  upon  a  bowline.  Her 
commander  watched  the  receding  form  of  the  brig  with  the 
closest  attention,  until  it  was  entirely  swallowed  up  in  the 
darkness,  under  the  land,  towards  which  he  then  sheered  him- 
self, in  order  to  prevent  the  Swash  from  hauling  up,  and  turning 
to  windward,  close  in  under  the  shadow  of  the  island.  Against 
this  manoeuvre,  however,  the  cutter  had  now  taken  an  effectual 
precaution,  and  her  people  were  satisfied  that  escape  in  that  way 
was  impossible. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  steamer  was  doing  very  well.  Driven 
by  the  breeze,  and  propelled  by  her  wheels,  away  she  went, 
edging  further  and  further  from  the  island,  as  the  person  from 
the  Custom-house  succeeded,  as  it  might  be,  inch  by  inch,  in 
persuading  the  captain  of  the  necessity  of  his  so  doing.  At 
length  a  Sail  was  dimly  seen  ahead,  and  then  no  doubt  was 
entertained  that  the  brig  had  got  to  the  northward  and  eastward 
of  them.  Half  an  hour  brought  the  steamer  alongside  of  this 
sail,  which  turned  out  to  be  a  brig  that  had  come  over  the 
shoals,  and  was  beating  into  the  ocean,  on  her  way  to  one  ot 
the  southern  ports.  Her  captain  said  there  had  nothing  passed 
to  the  eastward. 

Round  went  the  steamer,  and  in  went  all  her  canvas.  Ten 
minutes  later,  the  look-out  saw  a  sail  to  the  westward,  standing 
before  the  wind.  Odd  as  it  might  seem,  the  steamer's  people 
now  fancied  they  were  sure  of  the  Swash.  There  she  was, 
coming  directly  for  them,  with  squared  yards !  The  distance 
was  short,  or  a  vessel  could  not  have  been  seen  by  that  light, 
and  the  two  craft  were  soon  near  each  other.  A  gun  was  actu- 
ally cleared  on  board  the  steamer,  ere  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  stranger  was  the  schooner!  It  was  now  midnight,  and 
nothing  was  in  sight  but  the  coasting  brig.  Reluctantly,  the 
revenue  people  gave  the  matter  up ;  the  Molly  Swash  having 
again  eluded  them,  though  by  means  unknown. 


JACK     TIE  II.  *  105 


CHAPTER    IV. 

"  Leander  dived  for  love.    Leucadia's  cliff 
The  Lesbian  Sappho  leap'd  from  in  a  miff, 
To  punish  Phaon  ;  Icarus  went  dead, 
Because  the  wax  did  not  continue  stiff; 
And,  had  he  minded  what  his  father  said, 
lie  had  not  given  a  name  unto  his  watery  bed." 

Sands. 

We  must  now  advance  the  time  several  days,  and  change  the 
scene  to  a  distant  part  of  the  ocean — within  the  tropics,  indeed 
The  females  had  suffered  slight  attacks  of  sea-sickness,  and 
recovered  from  them,  and  the  brig  was  safe  from  all  her  pur- 
suers. The  manner  of  Spike's  escape  was  simple  enough,  and 
without  any  necromancy.  While  the  steamer,  on  the  one  hand, 
was  standing  away  to  the  northward  and  eastward,  in  order  to 
head  him  off,  and  the  schooner  was  edging  in  with  the  island, 
in  order  to  prevent  his  beating  up  to  windward  of  it,  within  its 
shadows,  the  brig  had  run  close  round  the  northern  margin  of 
the  land,  and  hauled  up  to  leeward  of  the  island,  passing  be- 
tween it  and  the  steamer.  All  this  time,  her  movements  were 
concealed  from  the  schooner  by  the  island  itself,  and  from  the 
steamer,  by  its  shadow  and  dark  background,  aided  by  the 
distance.  By  making  short  tacks,  this  expedient  answered  per- 
fectly well ;  and,  at  the  very  moment  when  the  two  revenue 
vessels  met,  at  midnight,  about  three  leagues  to  leeward  of  Blok 
Island,  the  brigantine  Molly  Swash  was  just  clearing  her  most 
weatherly  point,  on  the  larboard  lack,  and  coming  out  exactly 
at  the  spot  where  the  steamer  wTas  when  first  seen  that  afternoon. 
Spike  stood  to  the  westward,  until  he  was  certain  of  having  the 
island  fairly  between  him  and  his  pursuers,  when  he  went  about, 


106  JACK     TIER. 

and  filled  away  on  his  course,  running  out  to-  sea  again  on  an 
easy  bowline.  At  sunrise  the  next  day  he  was  fifty  miles  to  the 
southward  and  eastward  of  Montauk ;  the  schooner  was  going 
into  New  London,  her  officers  and  people  quite  chop-fallen ; 
and  the  steamer  was  paddling  up  the  Sound,  her  captain  being 
fully  persuaded  that  the  runaways  had  returned  in  the  direction 
from  which  they  had  come,  and  might  yet  be  picked  up  in  that 
quarter. 

The  weather  was  light,  just  a  week  after  the  events  related  in 
the  close  of  the  last  chapter.  By  this  time  the  brig  had  got 
within  the  influence  of  the  trades ;  and,  it  being  the  intention 
of  Spike  to  pass  to  the  southward  of  Cuba,  he  had  so  far  profited 
by  the  westerly  winds,  as  to  get  well  to  the  eastward  of  the  Mona 
Passage,  the  strait  through  which  he  intended  to  shape  his  course 
on  making  the  islands.  Early  on  that  morning  Mrs.  Budd  had 
taken  her  seat  on  the  trunk  of  the  cabin,  with  a  complacent 
air,  and  arranged  her  netting,  some  slight  passages  of  gallantry, 
on  the  part  of  the  captain,  having  induced  her  to  propose  net- 
ting him  a  purse.  Biddy  was  going  to  and  fro,  in  quest  of  silks 
and  needles,  her  mistress  having  become  slightly  capricious  in 
her  tastes  of  late,  and  giving  her,  on  all  such  occasions,  at  least 
a  double  allowance  of  occupation.  As  for  Rose,  she  sat  read- 
ing beneath  the  shade  of  the  coach-house  deck,  while  the  hand- 
some young  mate  was  within  three  feet  of  her,  working  up  his 
logarithms,  but  within  the  sanctuary  of  his  own  stateroom ;  the 
open  door  and  window  of  which,  however,  gave  him  every  fa- 
cility he  could  desire  to  relieve  his  mathematics,  by  gazing  at 
the  sweet  countenance  of  his  charming  neighbor.  Jack  Tier 
and  Josh  wTere  both  passing  to  and  fro,  as  is  the  wont  of  stew- 
ards, between  the  camboose  and  the  cabin,  the  breakfast  table 
being  just  then  in  the  course  of  preparation.  In  all  other  re- 
spects, always  excepting  the  man  at  the  wheel,  who  stood  within 
a  fathom  of  Rose,  Spike  had  the  quarter-deck  to  himself,  and 
did  not  fail  to  pace  its  weather-side  with  an  air  that  denoted  the 
master  and  owner.     After  exhibiting  his  sturdy,  but  short,  per 


JACK     TIER.  107 

son  in  this  maimer,  to  the  admiring  eyes  of  all  beholders,  foi 
Borne  time,  the  captain  suddenly  took  a  seat  at  the  side  of  the 
relict,  and  dropped  into  the  following  discourse. 

"  The  weather  is  moderate,  Madam  Budd ;  quite  moderate," 
observed  Spike,  a  sentimental  turn  coming  over  him  at  the  mo- 
ment.    "  What  I  call  moderate  and  agreeable." 

"  So  much  the  better  for  us  ;  the  ladies  are  fond  of  modera- 
tion, sir." 

"Not  in  admiration,  Madam  Budd — ha!  ha!  ha!  no,  not  in 
admiration.  Immoderation  is  what  they  like  when  it  comes  to 
that.  I'm  a  single  man,  but  I  know  that  the  ladies  like  admi- 
ration— mind  where  you're  sheering  to,"  the  captain  said,  inter- 
rupting himself  a  little  fiercely,  considering  the  nature  of  the 
subject,  in  consequence  of  Jack  Tier's  having  trodden  on  his  toe 
in  passing ;  "  or  I'll  teach  you  the  navigation  of  the  quarter- 
deck, Mr.  Burgoo !" 

"  Moderation — moderation,  my  good  captain,"  said  the  sim- 
pering relict.  "  As  to  admiration,  I  confess  that  it  is  agreeable 
to  us  ladies  ;  more  especially  when  it  comes  from  gentlemen  of 
sense,  and  intelligence,  and  experience." 

Rose  fidgeted,  having  heard  every  word  that  was  said,  and 
her  face  flushed  ;  for  she  doubted  not  that  Harry's  ears  were  as 
good  as  her  own.  As  for  the  man  at  the  wheel,  he  turned  the 
tobacco  over  in  his  mouth,  hitched  up  his  trowsers,  and  appeared 
interested,  though  somewhat  mystified  :  the  conversation  was 
•what  he  would  have  termed  "talking  dictionary,"  and  he  had 
some  curiosity  to  learn  how  the  captain  would  work  his  way  out 
of  it.  It  is  probable  that  Spike  himself  had  some  similar 
gleamings  of  the  difficulties  of  his  position,  for  he  looked  a 
little  troubled,  though  still  resolute.  It  was  the  first  time  he 
had  ever  lain  yard-arm  and  yard-arm  with  a  widow,  and  he  had 
long  entertained  a  fancy  that  such  a  situation  was  trying  to 
the  best  of  men. 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd,  yes,"  he  said,  "  exper'ence  and  sense 
cany  weight  with  'em,  wherever  they  go.     I'm  glad  to  find  that 


108  J  A  C  li     T  I  E  R  . 

you  entertain  these  just  notions  of  us  gentlemen,  and  make  a 
difference  between  boys  and  them  that's  seen  and  known  ex- 
per'ence.  For  my  part,  I  count  youngsters  under  forty  as  so 
much  lumber  about  decks,  as  to  any  comfort  and  calculations  in 
keepin'  a  family,  as  a  family  ought  to  be  kept." 

Mrs.  Budd  looked  interested,  but  she  remained  silent  on  hear- 
ing this  remark,  as  became  her  sex. 

"  Every  man  ought  to  settle  in  life,  some  time  or  other,  Madam 
Budd,  accordin'  to  my  notion,  though  no  man  ought  to  be  in  a 
boyish  haste  about  it,"  continued  the  captain.  "  Now,  in  my 
own  case,  I've  been  so  busy  all  my  youth — not  that  I'm  very 
old  now,  but  I'm  no  boy — but  all  my  younger  days  have  been 
passed  in  trying  to  make  things  meet,  in  a  way  to  put  any  lady 
who  might  take  a  fancy  to  me — " 

"  Oh  !  captain — that  is  too  strong  !  The  ladies  do  not  take 
fancies  for  gentlemen,  but  the  gentlemen  take  fancies  for  ladies!" 

"  Well,  well,  you  know  what  I  mean,  Madam  Budd  ;  and  so 
long  as  the  parties  understand  each  other,  a  word  dropped,  or  a 
word  put  into  a  charter-party,  makes  it  neither  stronger  nor 
weaker.  There's  a  time,  howsomever,  in  every  man's  life,  when 
he  begins  to  think  of  settling  down,  and  of  considerin'  himself 
as  a  sort  of  mooring-chain,  for  children  and  the  likes  of  them  to 
make  fast  to.  Such  is  my  natur',  I  will  own ;  and  ever  since 
I've  got  to  be  intimate  in  your  family,  Madam  Budd,  that  senti- 
ment has  grown  stronger  and  stronger  iu  me,  till  it  has  got  to 
be  uppermost  in  all  my  idees.  Bone  of  my  bone,  and  flesh  of 
my  flesh,  as  a  body  might  say." 

Mrs.  Bvidd  now  looked  more  than  interested,  for  she  looked  a 
little  confused,  and  Rose  began  to  tremble  for  her  aunt.  It  was 
evident  that  the  parties  most  conspicuous  in  this  scene  were  not 
at  all  conscious  that  they  were  overheard,  the  intensity  of  their 
attention  being  too  much  concentrated  on  what  was  passing  to 
allow  of  any  observation  without  their  own  narrow  circle.  What 
may  be  thought  still  more  extraordinary,  but  what  in  truth  was 
the  most  natural  of  all,  each  of  the  parties  was  so  intently  bent 


JACK    TIER.  109 

on  his,  or  her  own  train  of  thought,  that  neither  in  the  least 
suspected  any  mistake. 

"  Grown  with  your  growth,  and  strengthened  with  your 
strength,"  rejoined  the  relict,  smiling  kindly  enough  on  the  cap- 
tain to  have  encouraged  a  much  more  modest  man  than  he  hap- 
pened to  be. 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd — very  just  that  remark ;  grown  with 
my  strength,  and  strengthened  with  my  growth,  as  one  might 
say ;  though  I've  not  done  much  at  growing  for  a  good  many 
years.  Your  late  husband,  Captain  Budd,  often  remarked  how 
very  early  I  got  my  growth  ;  and  rated  me  as  an  '  ablebodied' 
hand,  when  most  lads  think  it  an  honor  to  be  placed  among  the 
'  or'naries.' " 

The  relict  looked  grave  ;  and  she  wondered  at  any  man's  being 
so  singular  as  to  allude  to  a  first  husband,  at  the  very  moment 
he  was  thinking  of  offering  himself  for  a  second.  As  for  her- 
self, she  had  not  uttered  as  many  words  in  the  last  four  years, 
as  she  had  uttered  in  that  very  conversation,  without  making 
some  allusion  to  her  "  poor  dear  Mr.  Budd."  The  reader  is  not 
to  do  injustice  to  the  captain's  widow,  however,  by  supposing 
for  a  moment  that  she  was  actually  so  weak  as  to  feel  any  ten- 
derness for  a  man  like  Spike,  which  would  be  doing  a  grea' 
wrong  to  both  her  taste  and  her  judgment,  as  Rose  well  knew, 
even  while  most  annoyed  by  the  conversation  she  could  not  but 
overhear.  All  that  influenced  the  good  relict  was  that  besetting 
weakness  of  her  sex,  which  renders  admiration  so  universally 
acceptable ;  and  predisposes  a  female,  as  it  might  be,  to  listen 
to  a  suitor  with  indulgence,  and  some  little  show  of  kindness, 
even  when  resolute  to  reject  him.  As  for  Rose,  to  own  the  truth, 
her  aunt  did  not  give  her  a  thought,  as  yet,  notwithstanding 
Spike  was  getting  to  be  so  sentimental. 

"  Yes,  your  late  excellent  and  honorable  consort  always  said 
that  I  got  my  growth  sooner  than  any  youngster  he  ever  fell 
in  with,"  resumed  the  captain,  after  a  short  pause ;  exciting 
fresh  wonder  in  his  companion,  that  he  ivould  persist  in  lugging 


110  JACK      TIER. 

in  the  "  dear  departed"  so  very  unseasonably.  "  I  am  a  great 
admirer  of  all  the  Budd  family,  my  good  lady,  and  only  wish 
my  connection  with  it  had  never  tarminated  ;  if  tarminated  it 
can  be  called." 

"It  need  not  be  terminated,  Captain  Spike,  so  long  as  friend- 
ship exists  in  the  human  heart." 

"  Ay,  so  it  is  always  with  you  ladies  ;  when  a  man  is  bent  on 
suthin'  closer  and  more  interestin'  like,  you're  for  putting  it  oft 
on  friendship.  Now  friendship  is  good  enough  in  its  way,  Madam 
Budd,  but  friendship  isn't  love." 

"  Love  /"  echoed  the  widow,  fairly  starting,  though  she  looked 
down  at  her  netting,  and  looked  as  confused  as  she  knew  how. 
"  That  is  a  very  decided  word,  Captain  Spike,  and  should  never 
be  mentioned  to  a  woman's  ear  lightly." 

So  the  captain  now  appeared  to  think,  too,  for  no  sooner  had 
he  delivered  himself  of  the  important  monosyllable,  than  he  left 
the  widow's  side,  and  began  to  pace  the  deck,  as  it  might  be  to 
moderate  his  own  ardor.  As  for  Eose,  she  blushed,  if  her  more 
practiced  aunt  did  not ;  while  Harry  Mulford  laughed  heartily, 
taking  good  care,  however,  not  to  be  heard.  The  man  at  the 
wheel  turned  the  tobacco  again,  gave  his  trowsers  another  hitch, 
and  wondered  anew  whither  the  skipper  was  bound.  But  the 
drollest  manifestation  of  surprise  came  from  Josh,  the  steward, 
who  was  passing  along  the  lee-side  of  the  quarter-deck,  with  a 
teapot  in  his  hand,  when  the  energetic  manner  of  the  captain 
sent  the  words  "  friendship  isn't  love1''  to  his  ears.  This  induced 
him  to  stop  for  a  single  instant,  and  to  cast  a  wondering  glance 
behind  him  ;  after  which  he  moved  on  towards  the  galley,  mum- 
bling as  he  went — "Lub!  what  he,  want  of  lub,  or  what  lub 
want  of  him  ?  Well,  I  do  t'ink  Captain  Spike  bowse  his  jib 
out  pretty  'arly  dis  mornin'." 

Captain  Spike  soon  got  over  the  effects  of  his  effort,  and  the 
confusion  of  the  relict  did  not  last  any  material  length  of  time. 
As  the  former  had  gone  so  far,  however,  he  thought  the  presenl 
an  occasion  as  good  as  another  to  bring  matters  to  a  crisis. 


JACK      TIER.  Ill 

"Our  sentiments  sometimes  get  to  be  so  strong,  Madam  Budd," 
resumed  the  lover,  as  he  took  his  seat  again  on  the  trunk,  "  that 
they  run  away  "with  us.  Men  is  liable  to  be  run  away  with  as 
well  as  ladies.  I  once  had  a  ship  run  away  with  me,  and  a 
pretty  time  we  had  of  it.  Did  you  ever  hear  of  a  ship's  run- 
ning away  with  her  people,  Madam  Budd,  just  as  your  horse 
ran  away  with  your  buggy  V 

"  I  suppose  I  must  have  heard  of  such  things,  sir,  my  educa- 
tion having  been  so  maritime,  though  just  at  this  moment  I  cannot 
recall  an  instance.  When  my  horse  ran  away,  the  buggy  was 
cap-asided.  Did  your  vessel  cap-aside  on  the  occasion  you 
mention  ?" 

"  No,  Madam  Budd,  no.  The  ship  was  off  the  wind  at  the 
time  I  mean,  and  vessels  do  not  capsize  when  off  the  wind.  I'll 
tell  you  how  it  happened.  We  was  a  scuddin'  under  a  goose- 
wing  foresail — " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  interrupted  the  relict,  eagerly.  "  I've  often  heard 
of  that  sail,  which  is  small,  and  used  only  in  tempests." 

"  Heavy  weather,  Madam  Budd — only  in  heavy  weather." 

"It  is  amazing  to  me,  captain, how  you  seamen  manage  to 
weigh  the  weather.  I  have  often  heard  of  light  weather  and 
heavy  weather,  but  never  fairly  understood  the  manner  of 
weighing  it." 

"  Why  we  do  make  out  to  ascertain  the  difference,"  replied 
the  captain,  a  little  puzzled  for  an  answer ;  "  and  I  suppose  it 
must  be  by  means  of  the  barometer,  which  goes  up  and  down 
like  a  pair  of  scales.  But  the  time  I  mean,  Ave  was  a  scuddin* 
under  a  goose-wing  foresail — " 

"  A  sail  made  of  goose's  wings,  and  a  beautiful  object  it  must 
be  ;  like  some  of  the  caps  and  cloaks  that  come  from  the  islands, 
which  are  all  of  feathers,  and  charming  objects  are  they.  I  beg 
pardon — you  had  your  goose's  wings  spread — " 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd,  yes ;  we  was  steering  for  a  Mediterra- 
nean port,  intending  to  clear  a  mole-head,  when  a  sea  took  us 
under  the  larboard  quarter,  gave  us  such  a  sheer  to-port  as  sent 


112  JACK     TIER. 

our  cat-head  ag'in  a  spile,  and  raked  away  the  chain-plates  of 
the  topmast  hack-stays,  bringing  down  all  the  forrard  hamper 
about  our  ears." 

This  description  produced  such  a  confusion  in  the  mind  ot 
the  widow,  that  she  was  glad  when  it  came  to  an  end.  As  for 
the  captain,  fearful  that  the  "  goose's  wings"  might  be  touched 
upon  again,  he  thought  it  wisest  to  attempt  another  flight  on 
those  of  Cupid. 

"As  I  was  sayiu',  Madam  Budd,  friendship  isn't  love ;  no,  not 
a  bit  of  it !  Friendship  is  a  common  sort  of  feelin' ;  but  love,  as 
you  must  know  by  exper'ence,  Madam  Budd,  is  an  uncommon 
sort  of  feelin'." 

"Fie,  Captain  Spike,  gentlemen  should  never  allude  to  ladies 
knowing  any  thing  about  love.  Ladies  respect,  and  admire,  and 
esteem,  and  have  a  regard  for  gentlemen ;  but  it  is  almost  too 
strong  to  talk  about  their  love." 

"  Yes,  Madam  Budd,  yes ;  I  dare  say  it  is  so,  and  ought  to  be 
bo  ;  and  I  ask  pardon  for  having  said  as  much  as  I  did.  But 
my  love  for  your  niece  is  of  so  animated  and  lastin'  a  natur',  that 
I  scarce  know  what  I  did  say." 

"  Captain  Spike,  you  amaze  me !  I  declare  I  can  hardly 
breathe  for  astonishment.  My  niece  !  Surely  you  do  not  mean 
Rosy !" 

"  Who  else  should  I  mean  ?  My  love  for  Miss  Hose  is  so 
very  decided  and  animated,  I  tell  you,  Madam  Budd,  that  I 
will  not  answer  for  the  consequences,  should  you  not  consent  to 
her  marryin'  me." 

"  I  can  scarce  believe  my  ears !  You,  Stephen  Spike,  and  an 
old  friend  of  her  uncle's,  wishing  to  many  his  niece  !" 

"  Just  so,  Madam  Budd  ;  that's  it,  to  a  shavin'.  The  regard  I 
have  for  the  whole  family  is  so  great,  that  nothin'  less  than  the 
hand  of  Miss  Rose  in  marriage  can,  what  I  call,  mitigate  my 
feelin's." 

Now  the  relict  had  not  one  spark  of  tenderness  herself  in  be- 
half of  Spike  ;  while  she  did  love  Rose  better  than  any  human 


JACK     TIER.  113 

bein<r,  her  own  self  excepted.  But  she  had  viewed  all  the  sen- 
timent of  that  morning,  and  all  the  flue  speeches  of  the  captain, 
very  differently  from  what  the  present  state  of  things  told  her 
she  ought  to  have  viewed  them ;  and  she  felt  the  mortification 
natural  to  her  situation.  The  captain  was  so  much  bent  on  the 
attainment  of  his  own  object,  that  he  saw  nothing  else,  and  was 
even  unconscious  that  his  extraordinary  and  somewhat  loud 
discourse  had  been  overheard.  Least  of  all  did  he  suspect  that 
his  admiration  had  been  mistaken  ;  and  that  in  what  he  called 
"  courtin'  "  the  niece,  he  had  been  all  the  while  "  courtin' "  the 
aunt.  But  little  apt  as  she  was  to  discover  any  thing,  Mrs. 
Budd  had  enough  of  her  sex's  discernment  in  a  matter  of  this 
sort,  to  perceive  that  she  had  fallen  into  an  awkward  mistake, 
and  enough  of  her  sex's  pride  to  resent  it.  Taking  her  work  in 
her  hand,  she  left  her  seat,  and  descended  to  the  cabin,  with 
quite  as  much  dignity  in  her  manner  as  it  was  in  the  power  of 
one  of  her  height  and  "  build"  to  express.  What  is  the  most 
extraordinary,  neither  she  nor  Spike  ever  ascertained  that  their 
whole  dialogue  had  been  overheard.  Spike  continued  to  pace 
the  quarter-deck  for  several  minutes,  scarce  knowing  what  to 
think  of  the  relict's  manner,  when  his  attention  was  suddenly 
drawn  to  other  matters  by  the  familiar  cry  of  "  sail-ho !" 

This  was  positively  the  first  vessel  with  which  the  Molly  Swash 
had  fallen  in  since  she  lost  sight  of  two  or  three  craft  that  had 
passed  her  in  the  distance,  as  she  left  the  American  coast.  As 
usual,  this  cry  brought  all  hands  on  deck,  and  Mulford  out  of 
his  stateroom. 

It  has  been  stated  already  that  the  brig  was  just  beginning  to 
feel  the  trades,  and  it  might  have  been  added,  to  see  the  moun- 
tains of  San  Domingo.  The  winds  had  been  variable  for  the 
last  day  or  two,  and  they  still  continued  light  and  disposed  to 
be  unsteady,  ranging  from  northeast  to  southeast,  with  a  pre- 
ponderance in  favor  of  the  first  point.  At  the  cry  of  "  sail-ho  ■" 
everybody  looked  in  the  indicated  direction,  which  was  west,  a 
little  northerly,  but  for  a  long  time  without  success.     The  cry 


114  JACK      TIER. 

had  come  from  aloft,  and  Mulford  went  up  as  high  as  the  fore- 
top  before  he  got  any  glimpse  of  the  stranger  at  all.  He  had 
slung  a  glass,  and  Spike  was  unusually  anxious  to  know  the  re- 
sult of  his  examination. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Mulford,  what  do  you  make  of  her  ?"  he  called 
out  as  soon  as  the  mate  announced  that  he  saw  the  strango 
vessel. 

"  Wait  a  moment,  sir,  till  I  get  a  look, — she's  a  long  way  off, 
and  hardly  visible." 

"  Well,  sir,  well  ?" 

"  I  can  only  see  the  heads  of  her  top-gallant  sails.  She  seems 
a  ship  steering  to  the  southward,  with  as  many  kites  flying  as 
an  Indiaman  in  the  trades.  She  looks  as  if  she  were  carrying 
royal  stun'-sails,  sir." 

"  The  devil  she  does !  Such  a  chap  must  not  only  be  in  a 
hurry,  but  he  must  be  strong-handed  to  give  himself  all  this 
trouble  in  such  light  and  var'able  winds;  Are  his  yards  square  ? 
— Is  he  mau-of-war-ish  ?" 

"  There's  no  telling,  sir,  at  this  distance ;  though  1  rather 
think  it's  stun'sails  that  I  see.  Go  down  and  get  your 
breakfast,  and  in .  half  an  hour  I'll  give  a  better  account  of 
him." 

This  was  done,  Mrs.  Budd  appearing  at  the  table  with  great 
dignity  in  her  manner.  Although  she  had  so  naturally  supposed 
that  Spike's  attentions  had  been  intended  for  herself,  she  was 
rather  mortified  than  hurt  on  discovering  her  mistake.  Her 
appetite,  consequently,  was  not  impaired,  though  her  stomach 
might  have  been  said  to  be  very  full.  The  meal  passed  oft 
without  any  scene,  notwithstanding,  and  Spike  soon  reappeared 
on  deck,  still  masticating  the  last  mouthful  like  a  man  in  a 
hurry,  and  a  good  deal  a  I ' Americaine.  Mulford  saw  his  arri- 
val, and  immediately  levelled  his  glass  again. 

"  Well,  what  news  now,  sir  ?"  called  out  the  captain.  "  You 
must  have  a  better  chance  at  him  by  this  time,  for  I  can  see  the 
chap  from  off  the  coach-house  here." 


JACK     TIER.  115 

"Ay,  ay,  sir;  lie's  a  bit  nearer,  certainly.  I  should  say  that 
craft  is  a  ship  under  stuu'sails,  looking  to  the  eastward  of  south 
and  that  there  are  caps  with  gold  bands  on  her  quarter-deck." 

"  How  low  down  can  you  see  her  ?"  demanded  Spike,  in  a 
voice  of  thunder. 

So  emphatic  and  remarkable  was  the  captain's  manner  in 
putting  this  question,  that  the  mate  cast  a  look  of  surprise 
beneath  him  ere  he  answered  it.  A  look  with  the  glass  suc- 
ceeded, when  the  reply  was  given. 

"Ay,  ay,  sir;  there  can  be  no  mistake — it's  a  cruiser,  you 
may  depend  on  it.  I  can  see  the  heads  of  her  topsails  now, 
and  they  are  so  square  and  symmetrical,  that  gold  bands  are 
below  beyond  all  doubt." 

"  Perhaps  he's  a  Frenchman  :  Johnny  Crapaud  keeps  cruisers 
in  these  seas  as  well  as  the  rest  on  'em." 

"Johnny  Crapaud's  craft  don't  spread  such  arms,  sir.  The 
ship  is  either  English  or  American ;  and  he's  heading  for  the 
Mona  Passage  as  well  as  ourselves." 

"  Come  down,  sir,  come  down ;  there's  work  to  be  done  as 
soon  as  you  have  breakfasted." 

Mulford  did  come  down,  and  he  was  soon  seated  at  the  table 
with  both  Josh  and  Jack  Tier  for  attendants.  The  aunt  and 
the  niece  were  in  their  own  cabin,  a  few  yards  distant,  with  the 
door  open. 

"  What  a  fuss  'e  cap'in  make  'bout  dat  sail !"  grumbled  Josh, 
who  had  been  in  the  brig  so  long  that  he  sometimes  took  liber- 
ties with  even  Spike  himself.  "  What  good  he  t'ink  'twill  do  to 
measure  him  inch  by  inch  ?  Bye'm  by  he  get  alongside,  and 
den  'e  ladies  even  can  tell  all  about  him." 

"He  nat'rally  wishes  to  know  who  gets  alongside,"  put  in 
Tier,  somewhat  apologetically. 

"  What  matter  dat  %  All  sort  of  folk  get  alongside  of  Molly 
swash  ;  and  what  good  it  do  'em  ?  Yoh  !  yoh  !  yoh  !  I  dc 
remem'er  sich  times  vid  'e  ole  hussy !" 

"  What  old  hussy  do  you  mean  ?"  demanded  Jack  Tier,  a 


116  JACK     TIER. 

little  fiercely,  and  in  a  way  to  draw  Mulford's  eyes  from  the 
profile  of  Rose's  face  to  the  visages  of  his  two  attendants. 

"  Come,  come,  gentlemen,  if  you  please  ;  recollect  where  you 
are,"  interrupted  the  mate,  authoritatively.  "  You  are  not  now 
squabbling  in  your  galley,  but  are  in  the  cabin.  "What  is  it  to 
you,  Tier,  if  Josh  does  call  the  brig  an  old  bussy  ?  She  is  old, 
as  we  all  know,  and  years  are  respectable ;  and  as  for  her  being 
a  '  hussy,'  that  is  a  term  of  endearment  sometimes.  I've  heard 
the  captain  himself  call  the  Molly  a  '  hussy,'  fifty  times,  and  he 
loves  her  as  he  does  the  apple  of  his  eye." 

This  interference  put  an  end  to  the  gathering  storm,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  the  two  disputants  shortly  after  passed  on 
deck.  No  sooner  was  the  coast  clear  than  Rose  stood  in  the 
door  of  her  own  cabin. 

"  Do  you  think  the  strange  vessel  is  an  American  ?"  she  asked 
eagerly. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  say — English  or  American,  I  make  no 
doubt.     But  why  do  you  inquire?" 

"  Both  my  aunt  and  myself  desire  to  quit  the  brig,  and  if  the 
stranger  should  prove  to  be  an  American  vessel  of  war,  might 
not  the  occasion  be  favorable  ?" 

"And  what  reason  can  you  give  for  desiring  to  do  so?" 

"  What  signifies  a  reason  ?"  answered  Kose,  with  spirit. 
"  Spike  is  not  our  master,  and  we  can  come  and  go  as  we  may 
see  fit." 

"  But  a  reason  must  be  given  to  satisfy  the  commander  of  the 
vessel  of  war.  Craft  of  that  character  are  very  particular  about 
the  passengers  they  receive  ;  nor  would  it  be  altogether  wise  in 
two  unprotected  females  to  go  on  board  a  cruiser,  unless  in  a 
case  of  the  most  obvious  necessity." 

"  Will  not  what  has  passed  this  morning  be  thought  a  suffi- 
cient reason  ?"  added  Rose,  drawing  nearer  to  the  mate,  and 
dropping  her  voice  so  as  not  to  be  heard  by  her  aunt. 

Mulford  smiled  as  he  gazed  at  the  earnest  but  attractive 
countenance  of  his  charming  companion. 


JACK      TIER.  117 

"And  who  could  tell  it,  or  how  could  it  be  told  \  Would  the 
comniauder  of  a  vessel  of  war  incur  the  risk  of  receiving  such  a 
person  as  yourself  on  board  his  vessel,  for  the  reason  that  the 
master  of  the  craft  she  was  in  when  he  fell  in  with  her,  desired 
to  marry  her  ?" 

Rose  appeared  vexed,  but  she  was  at  once  made  sensible  that 
it  was  not  quite  as  easy  to  change  her  vessel  at  sea,  as  to  step 
into  a  strange  door  in  a  town.  She  drew  slowly  back  into  her 
own  cabin,  silent  and  thoughtful ;  her  aunt  pursuing  her  netting 
the  whole  time  with  an  air  of  dignified  industry. 

"Well,  Mr.  Mulford,  well,"  called  out  Spike,  at  the  head  of 
the  cabin  stairs,  "  what  news  from  the  coffee  ?" 

"All  ready,  sir,"  answered  the  mate,  exchanging  significant 
glances  with  Rose.     "  I  shall  be  up  in  a  moment." 

That  moment  soon  came,  and  Mulford  was  ready  for  duty. 
While  below,  Spike  had  caused  certain  purchases  to  be  got  aloft, 
and  the  main-hatch  was  open  and  the  men  collected  around  it, 
in  readiness  to  proceed  with  the  work.  Harry  asked  no  ques- 
tions, for  the  preparations  told  him  what  was  about  to  be  done, 
but  passing  below,  he  took  charge  of  the  duty  there,  while  the 
captain  superintended  the  part  that  was  conducted  on  deck.  In 
the  course  of  the  next  hour  eight  twelve-pound  carronades  were 
sent  up  out  of  the  hold,  and  mounted  in  as  many  of  the  ports 
which  lined  the  bulwarks  of  the  brigantine.  The  men  seemed 
to  be  accustomed  to  the  sort  of  work  in  which  they  were  now 
engaged,  and  soon  had  their  light  batteries  in  order,  and  ready 
for  service.  In  the  mean  time  the  two  vessels  kept  on  their 
respective  courses,  and  by  the  time  the  guns  were  mounted, 
there  was  a  sensible  difference  in  their  relative  positions.  The 
stranger  had  drawn  so  near  the  brigantine  as  to  be  very  obvious 
rom  the  latter's  deck,  while  the  brigantine  had  drawn  so  much 
nearer  to  the  islands  of  San  Domingo  and  Porto  Rico,  as  to  ren- 
der the  opening  between  them,  the  well-known  Mona  Passage, 
distinctly  visible. 

Of  all  this  Spike  appeared  to  be  fully  aware,  for  he  quitted 


118  JACK     TIER. 

the  work  several  times  before  it  -was  finished,  in  order  to  take  a 
look  at  the  stranger  and  at  the  land.  When  the  batteries  were 
arranged,  he  and  Mulford,  each  provided  with  a  glass,  gave  a 
few  minutes  to  a  more  deliberate  examination  of  the  first. 

"  That's  the  Mona  ahead  of  us,"  said  the  captain ;  "  of  that 
there  can  be  no  question,  and  a  very  pretty  land-fall  you've 
made  of  it,  Harry.  I'll  allow  you  to  be  as  good  a  navigator  as 
floats." 

"Nevertheless,  sir,  you  have  not  seen  fit  to. let  me  know 
whither  the  brig  is  really  bound  this  voyage." 

"  No  matter  for  that,  young  man — no  matter,  as  yet.  All  in 
good  time.  When  I  tell  you  to  lay  your  course  for  the  Mona, 
you  can  lay  your  course  for  the  Mona  ;  and,  as  soon  as  we  are 
through  the  passage,  I'll  let  you  know  what  is  wanted  next — if 
that  bloody  chap,  who  is  nearing  us,  will  let  me." 

"And  why  should  any  vessel  wish  to  molest  us  on  our  pas- 
sage, Captain  Spike  ?" 

"  Why,  sure  enough  !  It's  war-times,  you  know  ;  and  war- 
times always  bring  trouble  to  the  trader — though  it  sometimes 
brings  profit,  too." 

As  Spike  concluded,  he  gave  his  mate  a  knowing  wink,  which 
the  other  understood  to  mean  that  he  expected  himself  some  of 
the  unusual  profit  to  which  he  alluded.  Mulford  did  not  relish 
this  secret  communication,  for  the  past  had  induced  him  to  sus- 
pect the  character  of  the  trade  in  which  his  commander  was 
accustomed  to  engage.  Without  making  any  sort  of  reply,  or 
encouraging  the  confidence  by  even  a  smile,  he  levelled  his  glass 
at  the  stranger,  as  did  Spike,  the  instant  he  ceased  to  grin. 

"  That's  one  of  Uncle  Sam's  fellows  !"  exclaimed  the  captain, 
dropping  the  glass.  "  I'd  swear  to  the  chap  in  any  admiralty 
court  on  'arth." 

"  'Tis  a  vessel  of  war,  out  of  all  doubt,"  returned  the  mate, 
•'  and  under  a  cloud  of  canvas.  I  can  make  out  the  heads  of 
her  courses  now,  and  see  that  she  is  carrying  hard,  for  a  craft 
that  is  almost  close-hauled." 


JACK      TIER.  119 

"  Ay,  ay ;  no  merchantman  keeps  Lis  light  stun'sails  set,  as 
aear  the  wind  as  that  fellow's  going.  He's  a  big  chap,  too — a 
iVigate,  at  least,  by  his  canvas." 

"  I  do  not  know,  sir  ;  they  build  such  heavy  corvettes  now- 
a-days,  that  I  should  rather  take  her  for  one  of  them.  They 
tell  me  ships  are  now  sent  to  sea  which  mount  only  two-and- 
hventy  guns,  but  which  measure  quite  a  thousand  tons." 

"  With  thunderin'  batteries,  of  course." 

"  With  short  thirty-twos  and  a  few  rapping  sixty-eight  Paix- 
hans — or  Columbiads,  as  they  ought  in  justice  to  be  called." 

"  And  you  think  this  chap  likely  to  be  a  craft  of  that 
sort  ?" 

"  Nothing  is  more  probable,  sir.  Government  has  several, 
and,  since  this  war  has  commenced,  it  has  been  sending  off 
cruiser  after  cruiser  into  the  Gulf.  The  Mexicans  dare  not  send 
a  vessel  of  war  to  sea,  which  would  be  sending  them  to  Norfolk 
or  New  York  at  once ;  but  no  one  can  say  when  they  may  be- 
gin to  make  a  prey  of  our  commerce." 

"  They  have  taken  nothing  as  yet,  Mr.  Mulforcl ;  and,  to  tell 
you  the  truth,  I'd  much  rather  fall  in  with  one  of  Don  Montezu- 
ma's craft  than  one  of  Uncle  Sam's." 

"  That  is  a  singular  taste  for  an  American,  Captain  Spike, 
unless  you  think,  now  our  guns  are  mounted,  we  can  handle  a 
Mexican,"  returned  Mulford,  coldly.  "  At  all  events,  it  is  some 
answer  to  those  who  ask  '  What  is  the  navy  about  ?'  that 
months  of  war  have  gone  by,  and  not  an  American  has  been 
captured.  Take  away  that  navy,  and  the  insurance  offices  in 
Wall-street  would  tumble  like  a  New  York  party-wall  in  a  fire." 

"  Nevertheless,  I'd  rather  take  my  chance,  just  now,  with 
Don  Montezuma  than  with  Uncle  Sam.'' 

Mulford  did  not  reply,  though  the  earnest  manner  in  which 
Spike  expressed  himself,  helped  to  increase  his  distrust  touching 
the  nature  of  the  voyage.  With  him  the  captain  had  no  fur- 
ther conference ;  but  it  was  different  as  respects  the  boatswain. 
That  worthy  was  called  aft,  and  for  half  an  hour  he  and  Spike 


120  JACK     TIER. 

were  conversing  apart,  keeping  their  eyes  fastened  on  the  strange 
vessel  most  of  the  time. 

It  was  noon  before  all  uncertainty  touching  the  character  of 
the  stranger  ceased.  By  that  time,  however,  both  vessels  were 
entering  the  Mona  Passage ;  the  brig  well  to  windward,  on  the 
Porto  Rico  side ;  while  the  ship  was  so  far  to  leeward  as  to  be 
compelled  to  keep  every  thing  close-hauled,  in  order  to  weather 
the  island.  The  hull  of  the  last  could  now  be  seen,  and  no 
doubt  was  entertained  about  her  being  a  cruiser,  and  one  of 
some  size,  too.  Spike  thought  she  was  a  frigate  ;  but  Mulford 
still  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  she  was  one  of  the  new  ships ; 
perhaps  a  real  corvette,  or  with  a  light  spar-deck  over  her  bat- 
teries. Two  or  three  of  the  new  vessels  were  known  to  be  thus 
fitted,  and  this  might  be  one.  At  length  all  doubt  on  the  sub- 
ject ceased,  the  stranger  setting  an  American  ensign,  and  get- 
ting  so  near  as  to  make  it  apparent  that  she  had  but  a  single 
line  of  guns.  Still  she  was  a  large  -ship,  and  the  manner  in 
which  she  ploughed  through  the  brine,  close-hauled  as  she  was, 
extorted  admiration  even  from  Spike. 

"  We  had  better  begin  to  shorten  sail,  Mr.  Mulford,"  the  cap- 
tain at  length  most  reluctantly  remarked.  "  We  might  give 
the  chap  the  slip,  perhaps,  by  keeping  close  in  under  Porto 
Rico,  but  he  would  give  us  a  long  chase,  and  might  drive  us 
away  to  windward,  when  I  wish  to  keep  off  between  Cuba  and 
Jamaica.  He's  a  traveller ;  look,  how  he  stands  up  to  it  under 
that  cloud  of  canvas  !" 

Mulford  was  slow  to  commence  on  the  studding-sails,  and  the 
cruiser  was  getting  nearer  and  nearer.  At  length  a  gun  was 
fired,  and  a  heavy  shot  fell  about  two  hundred  yards  short  of 
the  brig,  and  a  little  out  of  line  with  her.  On  this  hint,  Spikf 
turned  the  hands  up,  and  began  to  shorten  sail.  In  ten  min- 
utes the  Swash  was  under  her  topsail,  mainsail,  and  jib,  with  her 
light  sails  hanging  in  the  gear,  and  all  the  steering  canvas  in. 
In  ten  minutes  more  the  cruiser  was  so  near  as  to  admit  of  the 
faces  of  the  three  or  four  men  whose  heads  were  above  the 


JACK     TIER  121 

haiumock-cloths  being  visible,  when  she  too  began  to  fold  her 
wings.  In  went  her  ro)Tals,  topgallant-sails,  and  various  kites, 
as  it  might  be  by  some  common  muscular  agency ;  and  up 
went  her  courses.  Every  thing  was  done  at  once.  By  this 
time  she  was  crossing  the  brig's  wake,  looking  exceedingly 
beautiful,  with  her  topsails  lifting,  her  light  sails  blowing  out, 
and  even  her  heavy  courses  fluttering  in  the  breeze.  There  flew 
the  glorious  stars  and  stripes  also  ;  of  brief  existence,  but  full  of 
recollections  !  The  moment  she  had  room,  her  helm  went  up, 
her  bows  fell  off,  and  down  she  came  on  the  weather-quarter 
of  the  Swash,  so  near  as  to  render  a  trumpet  nearly  useless. 

On  board  the  brig,  everybody  was  on  deck ;  even  the  relict 
having  forgotten  her  mortification  in  curiosity.  On  board  the 
cruiser,  no  one  was  visible,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  men  in 
each  top,  and  a  group  of  gold-banded  caps  on  the  poop.  Among 
these  officers  stood  the  captain,  a  red-faced,  middle-aged  man, 
with  the  usual  signs  of  his  rank  about  him ;  and  at  his  side 
was  his  lynx-eyed  first  lieutenant.  The  surgeon  and  purser 
were  also  there,  though  they  stood  a  little  apart  from  the  more 
nautical  dignitaries.  The  hail  that  followed  came  out  of  a  trum- 
pet that  was  thrust  through  the  mizzen  rigging,  the  officer  who 
used  it  taking  his  cue  from  the  poop. 

"  What  brig  is  that  ?"  commenced  the  discourse. 

"  The  Molly  Swash,  of  New  York,  Stephen  Spike,  master." 

"  Where  from,  and  whither  bound  ?" 

"  From  New  York,  aud  bound  to  Key  West  and  a  market." 

A  pause  succeeded  this  answer,  during  which  the  officers  on 
the  poop  of  the  cruiser  held  some  discourse  with  him  of  the 
trumpet.    During  the  interval  the  cruiser  ranged  fairly  up  abeam. 

"  You  are  well  to  windward  of  your  port,  sir,"  observed  he 
of  the  trumpet,  significantly. 

"  I  know  it ;  but  it's  war-times,  and  I  didn't  know  but  there 
might  be  picaroons  hovering  about  the  Havana." 

"  The  coast  is  clear,  and  our  cruisers  will  keep  it  so.  I  see 
you  have  a  battery,  sir  !" 

G 


122  JACK     TIER. 

"  Ay,  ay;  some  old  guns  that  I've  had  aboard  these  ten  years: 
they're  useful,  sometimes,  in  these  seas." 

"  Very  true.  I'll  range  ahead  of  you,  and  as  soon  as  you've 
room,  I'll  thank  you  to  heave-to.  I  wish  to  send  a  boat  on 
board  you." 

Spike  was  sullen  enough  on  receiving  this  order,  but  there 
was  no  help  for  it.  He  was  now  in  the  jaws  of  the  lion,  and 
his  wisest  course  was  to  submit  to  the  penalties  of  his  position 
with  the  best  grace  he  could.  The  necessary  orders  were  con- 
sequently given,  and  the  brig  no  sooner  got  room  than  she  came 
by  the  wind  and  backed  her  topsail.  The  cruiser  went  about, 
and  passing  to  windward,  backed  her  main-topsail  just  forward 
of  the  Swash's  beam.  Then  the  latter  lowered  a  boat,  and  sent 
it,  with  a  lieutenant  and  a  midshipman  in  its  stern-sheets,  on 
board  the  brigantine.  As  the  cutter  approached,  Spike  went 
to  the  gangway  to  receive  the  strangers. 

Although  there  will  be  frequent  occasion  to  mention  this 
cruiser,  the  circumstances  are  of  so  recent  occurrence,  that  Ave 
do  not  choose  to  give  either  her  name  or  that  of  any  one  belong- 
ing to  her.  We  shall,  consequently,  tell  the  curious,  who  may 
be  disposed  to  turn  to  their  navy-lists  and  blue-books,  that  the 
search  will  be  of  no  use,  as  all  the  names  we  shall  use,  in  refer- 
ence to  this  cruiser,  will  be  fictitious.  As  much  of  the  rest  of 
our  story  as  the  reader  please  may  be  taken  for  gospel ;  but  we 
tell  him  frankly,  that  we  have  thought  it  most  expedient  to 
adopt  assumed  names,  in  connection  with  this  vessel  and  all  her 
officers.  There  are  good  reasons  for  so  doing ;  and,  among 
others,  is  that  of  abstaining  from  arming  a  clique  to  calumniate 
her  commander  (who,  by  the  way,  like  another  commander  in 
the  Gulf  that  might  be  named,  and  who  has  actually  been  ex- 
posed to  the  sort  of  tracaaserie  to  which  there  is  allusion,  is  one 
of  the  very  ablest  men  in  the  service),  in  order  to  put  another 
in  his  place. 

The  officer  who  now  came  over  the  side  of  the  Swash  we 
shall  call  Wallace ;  he  was  the  second  lieutenant  of  the  vessel 


JACK     TIER.  123 

of  war.  He  was  about  thirty,  and  the  midshipman  who  follow- 
ed him  was  a  well-grown  lad  of  nineteen.  Both  had  a  decided 
man-of-war  look,  and  both  looked  a  little  curiously  at  the  vessel 
they  had  boarded. 

"  Your  servant,  sir,"  said  Wallace,  touching  his  cap  in  reply 
to  Spike's  somewhat  awkward  bow.  "  Your  brig  is  the  Molly 
Swash,  Stephen  Spike,  bound  from  New  York  to  Key  West  and 
a  market." 

"  You've  got  it  all  as  straight,  lieutenant,  as  if  you  was  a 
readin'  it  from  the  log." 

"  The  next  thing,  sir,  is  to  know  of  what  your  cargo  is  com- 
posed ?" 

"  Flour  ;  eight  hundred  barrels  of  flour." 

"  Flour  !  Would  you  not  do  better  to  carry  that  to  Liverpool  \ 
The  Mississippi  must  be  almost  turned  into  paste  by  the  quan- 
tity of  flour  it  floats  to  market." 

"Notwithstanding  that,  lieutenant,  I  know  Uncle  Sam's  econ- 
omy so  well,  as  to  believe  I  shall  part  with  every  barrel  of  my 
flour  to  his  contractors,  at  a  handsome  profit." 

"  You  read  Whig  newspapers  principally,  I  rather  think,  Mr. 
Spike,"  answered  Wallace,  in  his  cool,  deliberate  way,  smiling, 
however,  as  he  spoke. 

We  may  just  as  well  say  here,  that  nature  intended  this  gen- 
tleman for  a  second  lieutenant,  the  veiy  place  he  filled.  He 
was  a  capital  second  lieutenant,  while  he  would  not  have  earned 
his  rations  as  first.  So  well  was  he  assured  of  this  peculiaritv 
in  his  moral  composition,  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  the  first 
lieutenant  of  any  thing  in  which  he  sailed.  A  respectable  sea- 
man, a  well-read  and  intelligent  man,  a  capital  deck  officer,  or 
wratch  officer,  he  was  too  indolent  to  desire  to  be  any  thing 
more,  and  was  as  happy  as  the  day  was  long,  in  the  easy  berth 
he  filled.  The  first  lieutenant  had  been  his  messmate  as  a  mid- 
shipman, and  ranked  him  but  two  on  the  list  in  his  present 
commission ;  but  he  did  not  envy  him  in  the  least.  On  the 
contrary,  one  of  his  greatest  pleasures  was  to  get  "  Working 


124  JACK      TIER. 

Willy,"  as  he  called  his  senior,  over  a  glass  of  wine,  or  a  tumbler 
of  "  hot-stuff,"  and  make  him  recount  the  labors  of  the  day. 
On  such  occasions,  "Wallace  never  failed  to  compare  the  situation 
of  "  Working  Willy"  with  his  own  gentlemanlike  ease  and  in- 
dependence. As  second  lieutenant,  his  rank  raised  him  above 
most  of  the  unpleasant  duty  of  the  ship,  while  it  did  not  raise 
him  high  enough  to  plunge  him  into  the  never-ending  labors  of 
his  senior.  He  delighted  to  call  himself  the  "  ship's  gentleman," 
a  sobriquet  he  well  deserved,  on  more  accounts  than  one. 

"  You  read  Whig  newspapers  principally,  I  rather  think,  Mr. 
Spike,"  answered  the  lieutenant,  as  has  been  just  mentioned, 
"  while  we  on  board  the  Poughkeepsie  indulge  in  looking  over 
the  columns  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  over  those  of  the  Intelli- 
gencer, when  by  good  luck  we  can  lay  our  hands  on  a  stray 
number. 

"  That  ship,  then,  is  called  the  roughkeepsie,  is  she,  sir  ?" 
inquired  Spike. 

"  Such  is  her  name,  thanks  to  a  most  beneficent  and  sage 
provision  of  Congress,  which  has  extended  its  parental  care  over 
the  navy  so  far  as  to  imagine  that  a  man  chosen  by  the  people 
to  exercise  so  many  of  the  functions  of  a  sovereign,  is  not  fit  to 
name  a  ship.  All  our  two  and  three  deckers  are  to  be  called 
after  states  ;  the  frigates  after  rivers ;  and  the  sloops  after  towns. 
Thus  it  is  that  our  craft  has  the  honor  to  be  called  the  United 
States  ship  the  'Poughkeepsie,'  instead  of  the  'Arrow,'  or  the 
'  Wasp,'  or  the  '  Curlew,'  or  the  '  Petrel,'  as  might  otherwise 
have  been  the  case.  But  the  wisdom  of  Congress  is  manifest, 
for  the  plan  teaches  us  sailors  geography." 

"  Yes,  sir,  yes,  one  can  pick  up  a  bit  of  1'amin'  in  that  way 
cheap.     The  Poughkeepsie,  Captain V 

"  The  United  States  ship  Poughkeepsie,  20,  Captain  Adam 
Mull,  at  your  service.  But,  Mr.  Spike,  you  will  allow  me  to  look 
at  your  papers.  It  is  a  duty  I  like,  for  it  can  be  performed 
quietly,  and  without  any  fuss." 

Spike  looked  distrustfully  at  his  new  acquaintance,  but  went 


JACK     TIER.  125 

for  his  vessel's  papers  without  any  very  apparent  hesitation. 
Every  thing  was  en  regie,  and  Wallace  soon  got  through  with 
the  clearance,  manifest,  &c.  Indeed  the  cargo,  on  paper  at  least, 
was  of  the  simplest  and  least  complicated  character,  being  com- 
posed of  nothing  but  eight  hundred  barrels  of  flour. 

"  It  all  looks  very  well  on  paper,  Mr.  Spike,"  added  the 
boarding  officer.  "  With  your  permission,  we  will  next  see  how 
it  looks  in  sober  reality.  I  perceive  your  main  hatch  is  open, 
and  I  suppose  it  will  be  no  difficult  matter  just  to  take  a  glance 
at  your  hold." 

"  Here  is  a  ladder,  sir,  that  will  take  us  at  once  to  the  half- 
deck,  for  I  have  no  proper  'twixt  decks  iu  this  craft;  she's  too 
small  for  that  sort  of  outfit." 

"  No  matter,  she  has  a  hold,  I  suppose,  and  that  can  contain 
cargo.  Take  me  to  it  by  the  shortest  road,  Mr.  Spike,  for  I  am 
uo  great  admirer  of  trouble." 

Spike  now  led  the  way  below,  Wallace  following,  leaving  the 
midshipman  on  deck,  who  had  fallen  into  conversation  with  the 
relict  and  her  pretty  niece.  The  half-deck  of  the  brigantine 
contained  spare  sails,  provisions,  and  wrater,  as  usual,  while 
quantities  of  old  canvas  lay  scattered  over  the  cargo ;  more 
especially  in  the  wake  of  the  hatches,  of  which  there  were  two 
besides  that  which  led  from  the  quarter-deck. 

"  Flour  to  the  number  of  eight  hundred  barrels,"  said  Wal- 
lace, striking  his  foot  against  a  barrel  that  lay  within  his  reach. 
"  The  cargo  is  somewhat  singular  to  come  from  New  York, 
going  to  Key  West,  my  dear  Spike." 

"  I  suppose  you  know  what  sort  of  a  place  Key  West  is,  sir ; 
a  bit  of  an  island  in  which  there  is  scarce  so  much  as  a  potatoe 
grows." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir ;  I  know  Key  West  very  well,  having  been  in 
and  out  a  dozen  times.  All  eatables  are  imported,  turtle  ex- 
cepted. But  flour  can  be  brought  down  the  Mississippi  so  much 
cheaper  than  it  can  be  brought  from  New  York." 

"Have  you  any  idee,  lieutenant,  what  Uncle  Sam's  men  are 


126  JACK     TIER. 

paying  for  it  at  New  Orleens,  just  to  keep  soul  and  bodies  to- 
gether among  the  so'gers  V 

"  That  may  be  true,  sir — quite  true,  I  dare  say,  Mr.  Spike. 
Haven't  you  a  bit  of  a  chair  that  a  fellow  can  sit  down  on — 
this  half-deck  of  yours  is  none  of  the  most  comfortable  places 
to  stand  in.  Thank  you,  sir — thank  you  with  all  my  heart. 
What  lots  of  old  sails  you  have  scattered  about  the  hold,  es- 
pecially in  the  wake  of  the  hatches  !" 

"  Why,  the  craft  being  little  more  than  in  good  ballast  trim, 
I  keep  the  hatches  off  to  air  her  ;  and  the  spray  might  spit  down 
upon  the  flour  at  odd  times  but  for  them  'ere  sails." 

"  Ay,  a  prudent  caution.  So  you  think  Uncle  Sam's  people 
will  be  after  this  flour  as  soon  as  they  learn  you  have  got  it  snug 
in  at  Key  West  ?" 

"  What  more  likely,  sir  ?  You  know  how  it  is  with  our  gov- 
ernment— always  wrong,  whatever  it  does!  and  I  can  show  you 
paragraphs  in  letters  written  from  New  Orleens,  which  tell  us 
that  Uncle  Sam  is  paying  seventy -five  and  eighty  per  cent,  more 
for  flour  than  anybody  else." 

"lie  must  be  a  flush  old  chap  to  be  able  to  do  that, 
Spike." 

"  Flush  !     I  rather  think  he  is.     Do  you  know  that  he  is 
pendiu',  accordin'  to  approved  accounts,  at  this  blessed  mo- 
ment, as  much  as  half  a  million  a  day  ?     I  own  a  wish  to  be 
pickin'  up  some  of  the  coppers  while  they  are  scattered  about 
'  so  plentifully." 

"  Half  a  million  a  day !  why  that  is  only  at  the  rate  of 
$187,000,000  per  annum;  a  mere  trifle,  Spike,  that  is  scarce 
worth  mentioning  among  us  mariners." 

"  It's  so  in  the  newspapers,  I  can  swear,  lieutenant." 

"  Ay,  ay,  and  the  newspapers  will  swear  to  it,  too,  and  they 
that  gave  the  newspapers  their  cue.  But  no  matter,  our  busi- 
ness is  with  this  flour.  Will  you  sell  us  a  barrel  or  two  for  our 
mess  ?  I  heard  the  caterer  say  we  should  want  flour  in  the 
course  of  a  week  or  so." 


JACK     TIER, 


12"? 


Spike  seemed  embarrassed,  though  not  to  a  degree  to  awaken 
suspicion  in  his  companion. 

"  I  never  sold  cargo  at  sea,  long  as  I've  sailed  and  owned  a 
craft,"  he  answered,  as  if  uncertain  what  to  do.  "  If  you'll  pay 
the  price  I  expect  to  get  in  the  Gulf,  and  will  take  ten  barrels,  I 
don't  know  but  we  may  make  a  trade  on't.  I  shall  only  ask  ex- 
pected prices." 

"  Which  will  be—  ?" 

"  Ten  dollars  a  barrel.  For  one  hundred  silver  dollars  I  will 
put  into  your  boat  ten  barrels  of  the  very  best  brand  known  in 
the  western  country." 

"  This  is  dealing  rather  more  extensively  than  I  anticipated, 
but  we  will  reflect  on  it." 

Wallace  now  indolently  arose  and  ascended  to  the  quarter- 
deck, followed  by  Spike,  who  continued  to  press  the  flour  on 
him,  as  if  anxious  to  make  money.  But  the  lieutenant  hesitated 
about  paying  a  price  so  high  as  ten  dollars,  or  to  take  a  quantity 
so  large  as  ten  barrels. 

"  Our  mess  is  no  great  matter  after  all,"  he  said  carelessly. 
'*  Four  lieutenants,  the  purser,  two  doctors,  the  master,  and  a 
marine  officer,  and  you  get  us  all.  Nine  men  could  never  eat 
ten  barrels  of  flour,  my  dear  Spike,  you  will  see  for  yourself, 
with  the  quantity  of  excellent  bread  we  carry.  You  forget  the 
bread." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,  Mr.  Wallace,  since  that  is  your  name.  But 
such  flour  as  this  of  mine  has  not  been  seen  in  the  Gulf  this 
many  a  day.  I  ought  in  reason  to  ask  twelve  dollars  for  it,  and 
insist  on  such  a  ship  as  your'n's  taking  twenty  instead  of  the 
ten  barrels." 

"I  thank  you,  sir,  the  ten  will  more  than  suffice;  unless,  in- 
deed, the  captain  wants  some  for  the  cabin.  How  is  it  with 
your  steerage  messes,  Mr.  Archer — do  yon  want  any  flour  ?" 

"  We  draw  a  little  from  the  ship,  according  to  rule,  sir,  but 
we  can't  go  as  many  puddings  latterly  as  we  could  before  we 
touched  last  at  the  Havana,"  answered  the  laughing  midship- 


128  JACK     TIER. 

man.  "There  isn't  a  fellow  among  us,  sir,  that  could  pay  a 
shore-boat  for  landing  him,  should  we  go  in  again  before  the 
end  of  another  month.  I  never  knew  such  a  place  as  Havana. 
They  say  midshipmen's  money  melts  there  twice  as  soon  as  lieu- 
tenants' money." 

"  It's  clear,  then,  you'll  not  take  any  of  the  ten.  I  am  afraid 
after  all,  Mr.  Spike,  Ave  cannot  trade,  unless  you  will  consent  to 
let  me  have  two  barrels.  I'll  venture  on  two  at  ten  dollars,  high 
as  the  price  is." 

"  I  shouldn't  forgive  myself  in  six  months  for  making  so 
bad  a  bargain,  lieutenant,  so  we'll  say  no  more  about  it,  if  you 
please." 

"  Here  is  a  lady  that  wishes  to  say  a  word  to  you,  Mr. 
Wallace,  before  we  go  back  to  the  ship,  if  you  are  at  leisure  to 
hear  her,  or  them — for  there  are  two  of  them,"  put  in  Archer. 

At  this  moment  Mrs.  Budd  was  approaching  with  a  dignified 
step,  while  Rose  followed  timidly  a  little  in  the  rear.  Wallace 
was  a  good  deal  surprised  at  this  application,  and  Spike  was 
quite  as  much  provoked.  As  for  Mulford,  he  watched  the  in- 
terview from  a  distance,  a  great  deal  more  interested  in  its 
result  than  he  cared  to  have  known,  more  especially  to  his 
commanding  officer.  Its  object  was  to  get  a  passage  in  the 
vessel  of  war. 

"  You  are  an  officer  of  that  Uncle  Sam  vessel,"  commenced 
Mrs.  Budd,  who  thought  that  she  would  so  much  the  more 
command  the  respect  and  attention  of  her  listener,  by  showing 
him  early  how  familiar  she  was  with  even  the  slang  dialect  of 
the  seas. 

"  I  have  the  honor,  ma'am,  to  belong  to  that  Uncle  Sam  craft," 
answered  Wallace  gravely,  though  he  bowed  politely  at  the 
same  time,  looking  intently  at  the  beautiful  girl  in  the  back- 
ground as  he  so  did. 

"  So  I've  been  told,  sir.  She's  a  beautiful  vessel,  lieutenant^ 
and  is  full  jiggered,  I  perceive." 

For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  or  at  least  for  the  first  time  since 


JACK     TIER.  129 

his  first  cruise,  Wallace  wore  a  mystified  look,  being  absolutely 
at  a  loss  to  imagine  what  "  full  jiggered"  could  mean.  He  only 
looked,  therefore,  for  he  did  not  answer. 

"  Mrs.  Budd  means  that  you've  a  ixxW-rigged  craft,"  put  in 
Spike,  anxious  to  have  a  voice  in  the  conference,  "  this  vessel 
being  only  a  Acr (/"-rigged  brig." 

"  Oh !  ay ;  yes,  yes — the  lady  is  quite  right.  We  are  full 
jiggered  from  our  dead-eyes  to  our  eye-bolts." 

"  I  thought  as  much,  sir,  from  your  ground  hamper  and  top- 
tackles,"  added  the  relict  smiling.  "  For  my  part  there  is  noth- 
ing in  nature  that  I  so  much  admire  as  a  full-jiggered  ship,  with 
her  canvas  out  of  the  bolt-ropes,  and  her  clew-lines  and  clew- 
garnets  braced  sharp,  and  her  yards  all  abroad." 

"  Yes,  ma'am,  it  is  just  as  you  say,  a  very  charming  spectacle. 
Our  baby  was  born  full  grown,  and  with  all  her  hamper  aloft 
just  as  you  see  her.  Some  persons  refer  vessels  to  art,  but  I 
think  you  are  quite  right  in  referring  them  to  nature." 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  natural  to  me,  lieutenant,  than  a  fine 
ship  standing  on  her  canvas.  It's  an  object  to  improve  the  heart 
and  to  soften  the  understanding." 

"  So  I  should  think,  ma'am,"  returned  Wallace,  a  little  quiz- 
zically, "judging  from  the  effect  on  yourself." 

This  speech,  unfortunately  timed  as  it  was,  wrought  a  complete 
change  in  Rose's  feeliugs,  and  she  no  longer  wished  to  exchange 
the  Swash  for  the  Poughkeepsie.  She  saw  that  her  aunt  was 
laughed  at  in  secret,  and  that  was  a  circumstance  that  never 
failed  to  grate  on  every  nerve  in  her  system.  She  had  been  pre- 
pared to  second  and  sustain  the  intended  application — she  was 
now  determined  to  oppose  it. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  resumed  the  unconscious  relict,  "  and  to  soften  the 
understanding.     Lieutenant,  did  you  ever  cross  the  Capricorn  ?" 

"  No  less  than  six  times ;  three  going  and  three  returning, 
you  know." 

"And  did  Neptune  come  on  board  you,  and  were  you 
shaved  ?" 


130  JACK     TIER. 

"  Every  thing  was  done  secundem  artem,  ma'am.  The  razor 
was  quite  an  example  of  what  are  called  in  poetry  'thoughts  too 
deep  for  tears.'  " 

"That  must  have  been  delightful.  As  for  me,  I'm  quite  a 
devotee  of  Neptune's ;  but  I'm  losing  time,  for  no  doubt  your 
ship  is  all  ready  to  pull  away  and  carry  on  sail — " 

"  Aunt,  may  I  say  a  word  to  you  before  you  go  any  further," 
put  in  Rose  in  her  quiet  but  very  controlling  way. 

The  aunt  complied,  and  Wallace,  as  soon  as  left  alone,  felt 
like  a  man  who  was  released  from  a  quicksand,  into  which 
every  effort  to  extricate  himself  only  plunged  him  so  much  the 
deeper.  At  this  moment  the  ship  hailed,  and  the  lieutenant 
took  a  hasty  leave  of  Spike,  motioned  to  the  midshipman  to 
precede  him,  and  followed  the  latter  into  his  boat.  Spike  saw 
his  visitor  off  in  person,  tending  the  side,  and  offering  the  man- 
ropes  with  his  own  hands.  For  this  civility  Wallace  thanked 
him,  calling  out  as  his  boat  pulled  him  from  the  brig's  side — 
"If  we  '■pull  away,'"  accenting  the  "pull"  in  secret  derision  of 
the  relict's  mistake,  "  you  can  pull  away;  our  filling  the  topsail 
being  a  sign  for  you  to  do  the  same." 

"  There  you  go,  and  joy  go  with  you,"  muttered  Spike,  as  he 
descended  from  the  gangway.  "  A  pretty  kettle  of  fish  would 
there  have  been  cooked  had  I  let  him  have  his  two  barrels  of 
flour." 

The  man-of-war's  cutter  was  soon  under  the  lee  of  the  ship, 
where  it  discharged  its  freight,  when  it  was  immediately  run  up. 
During  the  whole  time  Wallace  had  been  absent,  Captain  Mull 
and  his  officers  remained  on  the  poop,  principally  occupied 
in  examining  and  discussing  the  merits  of  the  Swash.  No 
sooner  had  their  officer  returned,  however,  than  an  order  was 
given  to  fill  away,  it  being  supposed  that  the  Poughkeepsie  had 
no  further  concern  with  the  brigantine.  As  for  Wallace,  he  as- 
cended to  the  poop  and  made  the  customary  report. 

"  It's  a  queer  cargo  to  be  carrying  to  Key  West  from  the 
Atlantic  coast,"  observed  the  captain,  in  a  deliberating  sort  of 


JACK     TIER.  131 

manner,  as  it*  the  circumstance  excited  suspicion  ;  "  yet  the  Mex- 
icans can  hardly  be  in  want  of  any  such  supplies." 

"Did you  see  the  flour,  Wallace  V  inquired  the  first  lieuten;  nt, 
who  was  well  aware  of  his  messmate's  indolence. 

"Yes,  sir,  and  felt  it  too.  The  lower  hold  of  the  brig  is  full 
of  flour,  and  of  nothing  else." 

"  Ware  round,  sir — ware  round  and  pass  athwart  the  brig's 
wake,"  interrupted  the  captain.  "There's  plenty  of  room  now, 
and  I  wish  to  pass  as  near  that  craft  as  we  can." 

This  manoeuvre  was  executed.  The  sloop-of-war  no  sooner 
filled  her  main-topsail  than  she  drew  ahead,  leaving  plenty  ot 
room  for  the  brigautine  to  make  sail  on  her  course.  Spike  did 
not  profit  by  this  opening,  however,  but  he  sent  several  men  aloft 
forward,  where  they  appeared  to  be  getting  ready  to  send  down 
the  upper  yards  and  the -topgallant-mast.  No  sooner  was  the 
sloop-of-war's  helm  put  up  than  that  vessel  passed  close  along  the 
brigantine's  weather  side,  and  kept  off  across  her  stern  on  her 
course.  As  she  did  this,  the  canvas  was  fluttering  aboard  her, 
in  the  process  of  making  sail,  and  Mull  held  a  short  discourse 
with  Spike. 

"  Is  any  thing  the  matter  aloft  ?"  demanded  the  man-of-war's 
man. 

"Ay,  ay;  I've  sprung  my  topgaljant-mast,  and  think  this  a 
good  occasion  to  get  another  up  in  its  place." 

"  Shall  I  lend  you  a  carpenter  or  two,  Mr.  Spike  ?" 

"Thank'ee,  sir;  thank'ee  with  all  my  heart;  but  we  can  do 
without  them.  It's  an  old  stick,  and  it's  high  time  a  better 
stood  where  it  does.  Who  knows  but  I  may  be  chased  and 
feel  the  want  of  reliable  spars  !" 

Captain  Mull  smiled,  and  raised  his  cap  in  the  way  of  an 
adieu,  when  the  conversation  ended ;  the  Poughkeepsie  sliding 
oft*  rapidly  with  a  free  wind,  leaving  the  Swash  nearly  stationary. 
In  ten  minutes  the  two  vessels  were  more  than  a  mile  apart ; 
n  twenty,  beyond  the  reach  of  shot. 

Notwithstanding  the  natural  and  common-piace  manner  in 


132  JACK     TIER. 

which  this  separation  took  place,  there  was  much  distrust  on 
board  each  vessel,  and  a  good  deal  of  consummate  manage- 
ment on  the  part  of  Spike.  The  latter  knew  that  every  foot  the 
sloop-of-war  went  on  her  course,  carried  her  just  so  far  to  lee- 
ward, placing  his  own  brig  to  that  extent  dead  to  windward  of 
her.  As  the  Swash's  best  point  of  sailing,  relatively  considered, 
was  close-hauled,  this  was  giving  to  Spike  a  great  security 
against  any  change  of  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  vessel  of  war. 
Although  his  people  were  aloft  and  actually  sent  down  the  top- 
gallant-mast, it  was  only  to  send  it  up  again,  the  spar  being  of 
admirable  toughness,  and  as  sound  as  the  day  it  was  cut. 

"  1  don't  think,  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  the  captain,  sarcastically, 
"  that  Uncle  Sam's  glasses  are  good  enough  to  tell  the  difference 
in  wood  at  two  leagues'  distance,  so  we'll  trust  to  the  old  stick 
a  little  longer.  Ay,  ay,  let  'em  run  off  before  it,  we'll  find 
another  road  by  which  to  reach  our  port." 

"  The  sloop-of-war  is  going  round  the  south  side  of  Cuba 
Captain  Spike,"  answered  the  mate,  "  and  I  have  understood  you 
to  say  that  you  intended  to  go  by  the  same  passage." 

"  A  body  may  change  his  mind,  and  no  murder.  Only  con- 
sider, Harry,  how  common  it  is  for  folks  to  change  their  minds 
I  did  intend  to  pass  between  Cuba  and  Jamaica,  but  I  intend  it 
no  longer.  Our  run  from  Montauk  has  been  oncommon  short, 
and  I've  time  enough  to  spare  to  go  to  the  southward  of  Jamaica 
too,  if  the  notion  takes  me." 

"  That  would  greatly  prolong  the  passage,  Captain  Spike, — 
a  week  at  least." 

"  What  if  it  does — I've  a  week  to  spare ;  we're  nine  days 
afore  our  time." 

"Our  time  for  what,  sir?  Is  there  any  particular  time  set 
for  a  vessel's  going  into  Key  West  ?" 

"  Don't  be  womanish  and  over-cur'ous,  Mulford.  I  sail  with 
sealed  orders,  and  when  we  get  well  to  windward  of  Jamaica, 
'twill  be  time  enough  to  open  them." 

Spike  was  as  good  as  his  word.     As  soon  as  he  thought  the 


JACK     TIER.  133 

4oop-of-war  was  far  enough  to  leeward,  or  when  she  was  hull 
down,  he  filled  away  and  made  sail  on  the  wind  to  get  nearer  to 
Porto  Rico.  Long  ere  it  was  dark  he  had  lost  sight  of  the 
sloop-of-war,  when  he  altered  his  course  to  southwesterly,  which 
was  carrying  him  in  the  direction  he  named,  or  to  windward  of 
Jamaica. 

While  this  artifice  wras  being  practised  on  board  the  Molly 
Swash,  the  officers  of  the  Poughkeepsie  were  not  quite  satisfied 
with  their  own  mode  of  proceeding  with  the  brigantine.  The 
more  they  reasoned  on  the  matter,  the  more  unlikely  it  seemed 
to  them  that  Spike  could  be  really  carrying  a  cargo  of  flour 
from  New  York  to  Key  West,  in  the  expectation  of  disposing  of 
it  to  the  United  States  contractors,  and  the  more  out  of  the 
way  did  he  seem  to  be  in  running  through  the  Mona  Passage. 

"  His  true  course  should  have  been  by  the  Hole  in  the  Wall, 
and  so  down  along  the  north  side  of  Cuba,  before  the  wind,"  ob- 
served the  first  lieutenant.  "  I  wonder  that  never  struck  you, 
Wallace;  you,  who  so  little  like  trouble." 

"  Certainly  I  knew  it,  but  we  lazy  people  like  running  off  be- 
fore the  wind,  and  I  did  not  know  but  such  were  Mr.  Spike's 
tastes,"  answered  the  ship's  gentleman.  "In  my  judgment  the 
reluctance  he  showed  to  letting  us  have  any  of  his  flour  is  much 
the  most  suspicious  circumstance  in  the  whole  affair." 

These  two  speeches  were  made  on  the  poop,  in  the  presence 
of  the  captain,  but  in  a  sort  of  an  aside  that  admitted  of  some  of 
the  wardroom  familiarity  exhibited.  Captain  Mull  was  not  sup- 
posed to  hear  what  passed,  though  hear  it  he  in  fact  did,  as  was 
seen  by  his  own  remarks,  which  immediately  succeeded. 

"  I  understood  you  to  say,  Mr.  Wallace,"  observed  the  cap- 
tain, a  little  drily,  "that  you  saw  the  flour  yourself?" 

"  I  saw  the  ftouv-bai-rels,  sir ;  and  as  regularly  built  were  they 
as  any  barrels  that  ever  were  branded.  But  a  flour-barrel  may 
have  contained  something  besides  flour." 

"Flour  usually  makes  itself  visible  in  the  handling;  were 
these  barrels  quite  clean  ?" 


134  JACK      TIER. 

"  Far  from  it,  sir.  They  showed  flour  on  their  staves,  like 
any  other  cargo.  After  all,  the  man  may  have  more  sense  than 
we  give  him  credit  for,  and  find  a  high  market  for  his  cargo." 

Captain  Mull  seemed  to  muse,  which  was  a  hint  for  his 
juniors  not  to  continue  the  conversation,  but  rather  to  seem  to 
muse,  too.  After  a  short  pause,  the  captain  quietly  remarked — 
"  Well,  gentlemen,  he  will  be  coming  down  after  us,  I  suppose, 
as  soon  as  he  gets  his  new  topgallant-mast  on-end,  and  then  we 
can  keep  a  bright  look-out  for  him.  We  shall  cruise  off  Cape 
San  Antonio  for  a  day  or  two,  and  no  doubt  shall  get  another 
look  at  him.     I  should  like  to  have  one  baking  from  his  flour." 

But  Spike  had  no  intention  to  give  the  Poughkeepsie  the  de- 
sired opportunity.  As  has  been  stated,  he  stood  off  to  the 
southward  on  a  wind,  and  completely  doubled  the  eastern  end 
of  Jamaica,  when  he  put  his  helm  up,  and  went,  with  favoring 
wind  and  current,  towards  the  northward  and  westward.  The 
consequence  was,  that  he  did  not  fall  in  with  the  Poughkeepsie 
at  all,  which  vessel  was  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  for  him  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Cape  San  Antonio  and  the  Isle  of  Pines,  at  the 
very  moment  he  was  running  down  the  coast  of  Yucatan.  Of 
all  the  large  maritime  countries  of  the  world,  Mexico,  on  the 
Atlantic,  is  that  which  is  the  most  easily  blockaded  by  a  su- 
perior naval  power.  By  maintaining  a  proper  force  between 
Key  West  and  the  Havana,  and  another  squadron  between 
Cape  San  Antonio  and  Loggerhead  Key,  the  whole  country,  the 
Bay  of  Honduras  excepted,  is  shut  up,  as  it  might  be  in  a  band- 
box. It  is  true  the  Gulf  would  be  left  open  to  the  Mexicans, 
were  not  squadrons  kept  nearer  in  ;  but  as  for  any  thing  getting 
out  into  the  broad  Atlantic,  it  would  be  next  to  hopeless.  The 
distance  to  be  watched  between  the  Havana  and  Key  West  is 
only  about  sixty  miles,  while  that  in  the  other  direction  is  not 
much  greater. 

While  the  Swash  was  making  the  circuit  of  Jamaica,  as  de- 
scribed, her  captain  had  little  communication  with  his  passen- 
gers.    The  misunderstanding  with  the  relict  embarrassed  him  as 


JACK     TIER.  13!> 

much  as  it  embarrassed  her ;  and  he  was  quite  willing  to  let 
time  mitigate  her  resentment.  Rose  would  be  just  as  much  in 
his  power  a  fortnight  hence  as  she  was  to-day.  This  cessation 
in  the  captain's  attentions  gave  the  females  greater  liberty,  and 
they  improved  it,  singularly  enough  as  it  seemed  to  Mulford,  by 
cultivating  a  strange  sort  of  intimacy  with  Jack  Tier.  The  very 
day  that  succeeded  the  delicate  conversation  with  Mrs.  Budd,  to 
a  part  of  which  Jack  had  been  an  auditor,  the  uncouth-looking 
steward's  assistant  was  seen  in  close  conference  with  the  pretty 
Rose;  the  subject  of  their  conversation  being,  apparently,  of  a 
most  engrossing  nature.  From  that  hour,  Jack  got  to  be  not 
only  a  confidant,  but  a  favorite,  to  Mulford's  great  surprise.  A 
less  inviting  subject  for  tUe-a-tetes  and  confidential  dialogues, 
thought  the  young  man,  could  not  well  exist ;  but  so  it  Avas  : 
woman's  caprices  are  inexplicable ;  and  not  only  Rose  and  her 
aunt,  but  even  the  captious  and  somewhat  distrustful  Biddy, 
manifested  on  all  occasions  not  only  friendship,  but  kindness  and 
consideration  for  Jack. 

"  You  quite  put  my  nose  out  o'  joint,  you  Jack  Tier,  with  e 
lady,"  grumbled  Josh,  the  steward  de  jure,  if  not  now  de  facto, 
of  the  craft,  "  and  I  neber  see  nuttin'  like  it !  I  s'pose  you  ex- 
pect ten  dollar,  at  least,  from  dem  passenger,  when  we  gets  in. 
But  I'd  have  you  to  know,  Misser  Jack,  if  you  please,  dat  a 
steward  be  a  steward,  and  he  don't  like  to  hab  trick  played  wid 
him,  afore  he  own  face." 

"  Poll !  poh  !  Joshua,"  answered  Jack  good-naturedly,  "  don't 
distress  yourself  ou  a  consait.  In  the  first  place,  you've  got  no 
nose  to  be  put  out  of  joint ;  or,  if  you  have  really  a  nose,  it  has 
no  joint.  It's  nat'ral  for  folks  to  like  their  own  color,  and  the 
ladies  prefar  me,  because  I'm  white." 

"  No  so  werry  white  as  all  dat,  nudder,"  grumbled  Josh.  "  I 
see  great  many  whiter  dan  you.  But,  if  dem  lady  like  you  so 
much  as  to  gib  you  ten  dollar,  as  I  expects,  when  we  gets  in,  I 
presumes  you'll  hand  over  half,  or  six  dollar,  of  dat  money  tc 
your  superior  officer,  as  is  law  in  de  case." 


136  JACK     TIER. 

"  Do  you  call  six  the  half  of  ten,  Joshua,  my  scholar,  eh  V 

"Well,  den,  seven,  if  you  like  dat  better.  I  wants  just  half, 
and  just  half  I  means  to  git." 

"  And  half  you  shall  have,  maty.  I  only  wish  you  would  just 
tell  me  where  we  shall  be,  when  we  gets  in." 

"  How  I  know,  white  man  ?  Dat  belong  to  skipper,  and  bet- 
ter ask  him.  If  he  don't  gib  you  lick  in  de  chop,  p'rhaps  he 
tell  you.* 

As  Jack  Tier  had  no  taste  for  "  licks  in  the  chops,"  he  did  not 
follow  Josh's  ads-ice.  But  his  agreeing  to  give  half  of  the  ten 
dollars  to  the  steward  kept  peace  in  the  cabins.  He  was  even 
so  scrupulous  of  his  word,  as  to  hand  to  Josh  a  half-eagle  that 
very  day — money  he  had  received  from  Rose  ;  saying  he  would 
trust  to  Providence  for  his  own  half  of  tbe  expected  douceur. 
This  concession  placed  Jack  Tier  on  high  grounds  with  his 
"  superior  officer,"  and  from  that  time  the  former  was  left  to  do 
the  whole  of  the  customary  service  of  the  ladies'  cabin. 

As  respects  the  vessel,  nothing  worthy  of  notice  occurred 
until  she  had  passed  Loggerhead  Key,  and  was  fairly  launch- 
ed in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Then,  indeed,  Spike  took  a  step 
that  greatly  surprised  his  mate.  The  latter  was  directed  to 
bring  all  his  instruments,  charts,  &c,  and  place  them  in  the 
captain's  stateroom,  where  it  was  understood  they  were  to  re- 
main until  the  brig  got  into  port.  Spike  was  but  an  indifferent 
navigator,  while  Mulford  was  one  of  a  higher  order  than  com- 
mon. So  much  had  the  former  been  accustomed  to  rely  on 
the  latter,  indeed,  as  they  approached  a  strange  coast,  that  he 
could  not  possibly  have  taken  any  step,  that  was  not  positively 
criminal,  which  would  have  given  his  mate  more  uneasiness 
than  this. 

At  first,  Mulford  naturally  enough  suspected  that  Spike  in- 
tended to  push  for  some  Mexican  port,  by  thus  blinding  his 
eyes  as  to  the  position  of  the  vessel.  The  direction  steered, 
however,  soon  relieved  the  mate  from  this  apprehension.  From 
the   eastern  extremity  of  Yucatan,  the  Mexican  coast  trends 


JACK     TIER.  137 

to  the  westward,  and  even  to  the  south  of  west,  for  a  long 
distance,  whereas  the  course  steered  by  Spike  was  northeasterly. 
This  was  diverging  from  the  enemy's  coast  instead  of  approach- 
ing it,  and  the  circumstance  greatly  relieved  the  apprehensions 
of  Mulford. 

Nor  was  the  sequestration  of  the  mate's  instruments  the  only 
suspicious  act  of  Spike.  He  caused  the  brig's  paint  to  be  en- 
tirety altered,  and  even  went  so  far  towards  disguising  her,  as 
to  make  some  changes  aloft.  All  this  was  done  as  the  vessel 
passed  swiftly  on  her  course,  and  every  thing  had  been  effected, 
apparently  to  the  captain's  satisfaction,  when  the  cry  of  "  land- 
ho  !  "  was  once  more  heard.  The  land  proved  to  be  a  cluster  of 
low,  small  islands,  part  coral,  part  sand,  that  might  have  been 
eight  or  ten  in  number,  and  the  largest  of  which  did  not  possess 
a  surface  of  more  than  a  very  few  acres.  Many  were  the  merest 
islets  imaginable,  and  on  one  of  the  largest  of  the  cluster  rose 
a  tall,  gaunt  lighthouse,  having  the  customary  dwelling  of  its 
keeper  at  its  base.  Nothing  else  wras  visible  ;  the  broad  expanse 
of  the  blue  waters  of  the  Gulf  excepted.  All  the  land  in  sight 
would  not  probably  have  made  one  field  of  twenty  acres  in 
extent,  and  that  seemed  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  by 
a  broad  barrier  of  water.  It  was  a  spot  of  such  singular  situa- 
tion and  accessories,  that  Mulford  gazed  at  it  with  a  burning 
desire  to  know  where  he  was,  as  the  brig  steered  through  a 
channel  between  two  of  the  islets,  into  a  capacious  and  perfectly 
safe  basin,  formed  by  the  group,  and  dropped  her  anchor  in  its 
centre. 


133  JACK.     TIER. 


CHAPTER   V. 

"  lie  sleeps ;  bat  dreams  of  massy  gold, 

Aud  heaps  of  pearl.    lie  stretch'd  his  bands — 
He  hears  a  voice— '111  man,  withhold  1' 
A  pale  one  near  him  stands." 

Dana. 

It  was  near  night-fall  when  the  Swash  anchored  among  tho 
low  and  small  islets  mentioned.  Rose  had  been  on  deck,  as 
the  vessel  approached  this  singular  and  solitary  haven,  watching 
the  movements  of  those  on  board,  as  well  as  the  appearance  ot 
objects  on  the  land,  with  the  interest  her  situation  Avould  be 
likely  to  awaken.  She  saw  the  light  and  manageable  craft 
glide  through  the  narrow  and  crooked  passages  that  led  into 
the  port,  the  process  of  anchoring,  and  the  scene  of  tranquil 
solitude  that  succeeded  ;  each  following  the  other  as  by  a  law 
of  nature.  The  lighthouse  next  attracted  her  attention,  and, 
as  soon  as  the  sun  disappeared,  her  eyes  were  fastened  on  the 
lantern,  in  expectation  of  beholding  the  watchful  and  warning 
fires  gleaming  there,  to  give  the  mariner  notice  of  the  position 
of  the  dangers  that  surrounded  the  place.  Minute  went  by 
after  minute,  however,  and  the  customary  illumination  seemed 
to  be  forgotten. 

"Why  is  not  this  light  shining?"  Rose  asked  of  Mulford,  as 
the  young  man  came  near  her,  after  having  discharged  his  duty 
in  helping  to  moor  the  vessel,  and  in  clearing  the  decks.  "All 
the  lighthouses  we  have  passed,  and  they  have  been  fifty,  have 
shown  bright  lights  at  this  hour,  but  this." 

"I  cannot  explain  it;  nor  have  I  the  smallest  notion  where 
we  are.     I  have  been  aloft,  and  there  was  nothing  in  sio-ht  but 


JACK     TIER.  139 

this  cluster  of  low  islets,  far  or  near.  I  did  fancy,  for  a  mo- 
ment, I  saw  a  speck  like  a  distant  sail  off  here  to  the  north- 
ward and  eastward,  but  I  rather  think  it  was  a  gull,  or  some 
other  sea-bird  glancing  upward  on  the  wing.  I  mentioned  it 
to  the  captain  when  I  came  down,  and  he  appeared  to  believe 
it  a  mistake.  I  have  watched  that  lighthouse  closely,  too,  ever 
since  we  came  in,  and  I  have  not  seen  the  smallest  sign  of  life 
about  it.     It  is  altogether  an  extraordinary  place !" 

"  One  suited  to  acts  of  villany,  I  fear,  Harry  !" 

"  Of  that  we  shall  be  better  judges  to-morrow.  You,  at  least, 
have  one  vigilant  friend,  who  will  die  sooner  than  harm  shall 
come  to  you.  I  believe  Spike  to  be  thoroughly  unprincipled ; 
still  he  knows  he  can  go  so  far  and  no  farther,  and  has  a  whole- 
some dread  of  the  law.  But  the  circumstance  that  there  should 
be  such  a  port  as  this,  with  a  regular  lighthouse,  and  no  person 
near  the  last,  is  so  much  out  of  the  common  way,  that  I  do  not 
know  what  to  make  of  it." 

"Perhaps  the  lighthouse-keeper  is  afraid  to  show  himself  in 
the  presence  of  the  Swash  V 

"  That  can  hardly  be,  for  vessels  must  often  enter  the  port,  if 
port  it  can  be  called.  But  Spike  is  as  much  concerned  at  the 
circumstance  that  the  lamps  are  not  lighted,  as  any  of  us  can 
be.  Look,  he  is  about  to  visit  the  building  in  the  boat,  accom- 
panied by  two  of  his  oldest  sea-dogs !" 

"  Why  might  we  not  raise  the  anchor,  and  sail  out  of  this 
place,  leaving  Spike  ashore  V  suggested  Rose,  with  more  decision 
and  spirit  than  discretion. 

"  For  the  simple  reason  that  the  act  would  be  piracy,  even  it 
I  could  get  the  rest  of  the  people  to  obey  my  orders,  as  certainly 
T  could  not.  No,  Rose ;  you,  and  your  aunt,  and  Biddy,  how- 
ever, might  land  at  these  buildings,  and  refuse  to  return,  Spike 
having  no  authority  over  his  passengers." 

"  Still  he  would  have  the  power  to  make  us  come  back  to  his 
brig.  Look,  he  has  left  the  vessel's  side,  and  is  going  directly 
towards  the  lio-hthouse." 


140  JACK     TIER. 

Mulford  made  no  immediate  answer,  but  remained  at  Rose's 
side,  watching  the  movements  of  the  captain.  The  last  pulled 
directly  to  the  islet  with  the  buildings,  a  distance  of  only  a  few 
hundred  feet,  the  lighthouse  being  constructed  on  a  rocky  island 
that  was  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  cluster,  most  probably  to 
protect  it  from  the  ravages  of  the  waves.  The  fact,  however, 
proved,  as  Mulford  did  not  fail  to  suggest  to  his  companion,  that 
the  beacon  had  been  erected  less  to  guide  vessels  into  the  haven, 
than  to  warn  mariners  at  a  distance,  of  the  position  of  the  whole 
group. 

In  less  than  five  minutes  after  he  had  landed,  Spike  himself 
was  seen  in  the  lantern,  in  the  act  of  lighting  its  lamps.  In  a 
very  short  time  the  place  was  in  a  brilliant  blaze,  reflectors  and 
all  the  other  parts  of  the  machinery  of  the  place  performing 
their  duties  as  regularly  as  if  tended  by  the  usual  keeper.  Soon 
after,  Spike  returned  on  board,  and  the  anchor-watch  was  set. 
Then  everybody  sought  the  rest  that  it  was  customary  to  take  at 
that  hour. 

Mulford  was  on  deck  with  the  appearance  of  the  sun ;  but 
he  found  that  Spike  had  preceded  him,  had  gone  ashore  again, 
had  extinguished  the  lamps,  and  was  coming  alongside  of  the 
brig  on  his  return.  A  minute  later  the  captain  came  over  the 
side. 

"You  were  right  about  your  sail,  last  night,  a'ter  all,  Mr. 
Mulford,"  said  Spike,  on  coming  aft.  "  There  she  is,  sure 
enough ;  and  we  shall  have  her  alongside  to  strike  cargo  out 
and  in,  by  the  time  the  people  have  got  their  breakfasts." 

As  Spike  pointed  towards  the  lighthouse  while  speaking,  the 
mate  changed  his  position  a  little,  and  saw  that  a  schooner  was 
coming  down  towards  the  islets  before  the  wind.  Mulford  now 
began  to  understand  the  motives  of  the  captain's  proceedings, 
though  a  good  deal  yet  remained  veiled  in  mystery.  He  could 
not  tell  where  the  brig  was,  nor  did  he  know  precisely  why  so 
many  expedients  were  adopted  to  conceal  the  transfer  of  a  cargo 
so  simple  as  that  of  flour.     But  he  who  was  in  the  secret  left 


JACK     TIER.  141 

but  little  time  for  reflection ;  for,  swallowing'  a  hasty  breakfast 
on  deck,  lie  issued  orders  enough  to  his  mate  to  give  him  quite 
as  much  duty  as  he  could  perform,  when  he  again  entered  the 
yawl,  and  pulled  towards  the  stranger. 

Rose  soon  appeared  on  deck,  and  she  naturally  began  to 
question  Harry  concerning  their  position  and  prospects.  He 
was  confessing  his  ignorance,  as  well  as  lamenting  it,  when  his 
companion's  sweet  face  suddenly  flushed.  She  advanced  a  step 
eagerly  towards  the  open  window  of  Spike's  stateroom,  then 
compressed  her  full,  rich  under  lip  with  the  ivory  of  her  upper 
teeth,  and  stood  a  single  instant  a  beautiful  statue  of  irresolution 
instigated  by  spirit.  The  last  quality  prevailed ;  and  Mulford 
was  really  startled  when  he  saw  Rose  advance  quite  to  the 
window,  thrust  in  an  arm,  and  turn  towards  him  with  his  own 
sextant  in  her  hand.  During  the  course  of  the  passage  out,  the 
young  man  had  taught  Rose  to  assist  him  in  observing  the 
longitude ;  and  she  was  now  ready  to  repeat  the  practice.  Not 
a  moment  was  lost  in  executing  her  intention.  Sights  were 
had,  and  the  instrument  was  returned  to  its  place  without 
attracting  the  attention  of  the  men,  who  were  all  busy  in 
getting  up  purchases,  and  in  makiug  the  other  necessary  dis- 
positions for  discharging  the  flour.  The  observations  answered 
the  purpose,  though  somewhat  imperfectly  made.  Mulford  had 
a  tolerable  notion  of  their  latitude,  having  kept  the  brig's  run  in 
his  head  since  quitting  Yucatan ;  and  he  now  found  that  their 
longitude  was  about  83°  wTest  from  Greenwich.  After  ascer- 
taining this  fact,  a  glance  at  the  open  chart,  which  lay  on 
Spike's  desk,  satisfied  him  that  the  vessel  was  anchored  within 
the  group  of  the  Dry  Tortugas,  or  at  the  western  termination  of 
the  well-known,  formidable,  and  extensive  Florida  Reef.  He 
had  never  been  in  that  part  of  the  world  hefore,  but  had  heard 
enough  in  sea-gossip,  and  had  read  enough  in  books,  to  be  at 
once  apprised  of  the  true  character  of  their  situation.  The  islets 
were  American  ;  the  lighthouse  was  American ;  and  the  haven 
in  which  the  Swash  lay  was  the  very  spot  in  the  contemplation 


142  JACK     TIEIt. 

of  government  for  an  outer  man-of-war  harbor,  where  fleets 
might  rendezvous  in  the  future  wars  of  that  portion  of  the 
world.  He  now  saw  plainly  enough  the  signs  of  the  existence 
of  a  vast  reef,  a  short  distance  to  the  southward  of  the  vessel, 
that  formed  a  species  of  sea-wall,  or  mole,  to  protect  the  port 
against  the  waves  of  the  Gulf  in  that  direction.  This  reef  he 
knew  to  be  miles  in  width. 

There  was  little  time  for  speculation,  Spike  soon  bringing  the 
strange  schooner  directly  alongside  of  the  brig.  The  two  vessels 
immediately  became  a  scene  of  activity,  one  discharging,  and 
the  other  receiving  the  flour  as  fast  as  it  could  be  struck  out 
of  the  hold  of  the  Swash  and  lowered  upon  the  deck  of  the 
schooner.  Mulford,  however,  had  practised  a  little  artifice,  as 
the  stranger  entered  the  haven,  which  drew  down  upon  him  an 
anathema  or  two  from  Spike,  as  soon  as  they  were  alone.  The 
mate  had  set  the  brig's  ensign,  and  this  compelled  the  stranger 
to  be  markedly  rude,  or  to  answer  the  compliment.  Accord- 
ingly he  had  shown  the  ancient  flag  of  Spain.  For  thus  extort- 
ing a  national  symbol  from  the  schooner,  the  mate  was  sharply 
rebuked  at  a  suitable  moment,  though  nothing  could  have  been 
more  forbearing  than  the  deportment  of  his  commander  when 
they  first  met. 

When  Spike  returned  to  his  own  vessel,  he  was  accompanied 
by  a  dark-looking,  well-dressed,  and  decidedly  gentleman-like 
personage,  whom  he  addressed  indifferently,  in  his  very  im- 
perfect Spanish,  as  Don  Wan  (Don  Juan,  or  John),  or  Senor 
Montefalderon.  By  the  latter  appellation  he  even  saw  fit  to 
introduce  the  very  respectable-lookiug  stranger  to  his  mate. 
This  stranger  spoke  English  well,  though  with  an  accent. 

"  Don  Wan  has  taken  all  the  flour,  Mr.  Mulford,  and  intends 
shoving  it  over  into  Cuba,  without  troubling  the  custom-house, 
I  believe ;  but  that  is  not  a  matter  to  give  us  any  concern,  you 
know." 

The  wink,  and  the  knowing  look  by  which  this  speech  was 
accompanied,  seemed   particularly  disagreeable  to  Don  Juan, 


JACK     TIER.  143 

who  now  paid  his  compliments  to  Rose,  with  no  little  surprise 
betrayed  in  bis  countenance,  but  with  the  ease  and  reserve  of  a 
gentleman.  Mulford  thought  it  strange  that  a  smuggler  of  flour 
should  be  so  polished  a  personage,  though  his  duty  did  not 
admit  of  his  bestowing  much  attention  on  the  little  trifling  of 
the  interview  tbat  succeeded. 

For  about  an  hour  the  work  went  steadily  and  rapidly  on. 
During  that  time  Mulford  was  several  times  on  board  the 
schooner,  as,  indeed,  was  Josb,  Jack  Tier,  and  others  belonging 
to  the  Swash.  The  Spanish  vessel  was  Baltimore  or  clipper 
built,  with  a  trunk-cabin,  and  had  every  appearance  of  sailing 
fast.  Mulford  was  struck  with  her  model,  and,  while  on  board 
of  her,  he  passed  both  forward  and  aft  to  examine  it.  This  was 
so  natural  in  a  seaman,  that  Spike,  while  he  noted  the  proceed- 
ing, took  it  in  good  part.  He  even  called  out  to  his  mate, 
from  his  own  quarter-deck,  to  admire  this  or  that  point  in  the 
schooner's  construction.  As  is  customary  with  the  vessels  of 
southern  nations,  this  stranger  was  full  of  men,  but  they  con- 
tinued at  their  work,  some  half  dozen  of  brawny  negroes  among 
them,  shouting  their  songs  as  they  swayed  at  the  falls,  no  one 
appearing  to  manifest  jealousy  or  concern.  At  length  Tier 
came  near  the  mate,  and  said — 

"Uncle  Sam  will  not  be  pleased  when  he  hears  the  reason 
that  the  keeper  is  not  in  his  lighthouse." 

"  And  what  is  that  reason,  Jack  ?  If  you  know  it,  tell  it  to 
me." 

"  Go  aft  aud  look  down  the  companion-way,  maty,  and  see  it 
for  yourself." 

Mulford  did  go  aft,  and  he  made  an  occasion  to  look  down 
into  the  schooner's  cabin,  where  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
persons  of  a  man  and  a  boy,  whom  he  at  once  supposed  had 
been  taken  from  the  lighthouse.  This  one  fact  of  itself  doubled 
bis  distrust  of  the  character  of  Spike's  proceedings.  There  was 
no  sufficient  apparent  reason  why  a  mere  smuggler  should  care 
about  the  presence  of  an  individual  more  or  less  in  a  foreign 


144  JACK      TIER. 

port.  Every  thing  that  had  occurred  looked  like  preconcert  be 
tween  the  brig  and  the  schooner;  and  the  mate  was  just  begin- 
ning to  entertain  the  strongest  distrust  that  their  vessel  was 
holding  treasonable  communication  with  the  enemy,  when  an 
accident  removed  all  doubt  on  the  subject,  from  his  own  mind 
at  least.  Spike  had,  once  or  twice,  given  his  opinion  that  the 
weather  was  treacherous,  and  urged  the  people  of  both  crafts  to 
extraordinary  exertions,  in  order  that  the  vessels  might  get  clear 
of  each  other  as  soon  as  possible.  This  appeal  had  set  various 
expedients  in  motion  to  second  the  more  regular  work  of  the 
purchases.  Among  other  things,  planks  had  been  laid  from  one 
vessel  to  the  other,  and  barrels  were  rolled  along  them  with 
very  little  attention  to  the  speed  or  the  direction.  Several  had 
fallen  on  the  schooner's  deck  with  rude  shocks,  but  no  damage 
was  done,  until  one,  of  which  the  hoops  had  not  been  properly 
secured,  met  with  a  fall,  and  burst  nearly  at  Mulford's  feet.  It 
was  at  the  precise  moment  when  the  mate  was  returning  from 
taking  his  glance  into  the  cabin,  towards  the  side  of  the  Swash. 
A  white  cloud  arose,  and  half  a  dozen  of  the  schooner's  people 
sprang  for  buckets,  kids,  or  dishes,  in  order  to  secure  enough  of 
the  contents  of  the  broken  barrel  to  furnish  them  with  a  meal. 
At  first  nothing  was  visible  but  the  white  cloud  that  succeeded 
the  fall,  and  the  scrambling  sailors  in  its  midst.  No  sooner, 
however,  had  the  air  got  to  be  a  little  clear,  than  Mulford  saw 
an  object  lying  in  the  centre  of  the  wreck,  that  he  at  once  recog- 
nized for  a  keg  of  gunpowder !  The  captain  of  the  schooner 
seized  this  keg,  gave  a  knowing  look  at  Mulford,  and  disap- 
peared in  the  hold  of  his  own  vessel,  carrying  with  him  what 
was  out  of  all  question  a  most  material  part  of  the  true  cargo 
of  the  Swash. 

At  the  moment  when  the  flour-barrel  burst,  Spike  was  below, 
in  close  conference  with  his  Spanish  or  Mexican  guest ;  and  the 
wreck  being  so  soon  cleared  away,  it  is  probable  that  he  never 
heard  of  the  accident.  As  for  the  two  crews,  they  laughed  a 
Little  among  themselves  at  the  revelation  which  had  been  made. 


JACK     TIER.  145 

as  well  as  at  the  manner ;  but  to  old  sea-dogs  like  them,  it  was 
a  matter  of  very  little  moment  whether  the  cargo  was,  in  reality, 
flour  or  gunpowder.  In  a  few  minutes  the  affair  seemed  to  he 
forgotten.  Iu  the  course  of  another  hour  the  Swash  was  light, 
having  nothing  in  her  but  some  pig-lead,  which  she  used  for 
ballast,  while  the  schooner  was  loaded  to  her  hatches,  and  full. 
Spike  now  sent  a  boat  with  orders  to  drop  a  kedge  about  a 
hundred  yards  from  the  place  where  his  own  brig  lay.  The 
schooner  warped  up  to  this  kedge,  and  dropped  an  anchor  of 
her  own,  leaving  a  very  short  range  of  cable  out,  it  being  a  flat 
calm.  Ordinarily,  the  trades  prevail  at  the  Dry  Tortugas,  and 
all  along  the  Florida  Reef.  Sometimes,  indeed,  this  breeze 
sweeps  across  the  whole  width  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  blowing 
home,  as  it  is  called — reaching  even  to  the  coast  of  Texas.  It 
is  subject,  however,  to  occasional  interruptions  everywhere,  vary- 
ing many  points  in  its  direction,  and  occasionally  ceasing 
entirely.  The  latter  was  the  condition  of  the  weather  about 
noon  on  this  day,  or  when  the  schooner  hauled  off  from  the 
brig,  and  was  secured  at  her  own  anchor. 

"  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  Spike,  "  I  do  not  like  the  state  of  the 
atmosphere.  D'ye  see  that  fiery  streak  along  the  western  hori- 
zon ?  Well,  sir,  as  the  sun  gets  nearer  to  that  streak,  there'll  be 
trouble,  or  I'm  no  judge  of  weather." 

"You  surely  do  not  imagine,  Captain  Spike,  that  the  sun 
will  be  any  nearer  to  that  fiery  streak,  as  you  call  it,  when  he 
is  about  to  set,  than  he  is  at  this  moment  ?"  answered  the  mate, 
smiling. 

"  I'm  sure  of  one  thing,  young  man,  and  that  is,  that  old 
heads  are  better  than  young  ones.  What  a  man  has  once  seen, 
he  may  expect  to  see  again,  if  the  same  leading  signs  offer. 
Man  the  boat,  sir,  and  carry  out  the  kedge,  which  is  still  in  it, 
and  lay  it  off  here,  about  three  p'ints  on  our  larboard  bow." 

Mulford  had  a  profound  respect  for  Spike's  seamanship,  what- 
ever he  might  think  of  his  principles.  The  order  was  conse- 
quently obeyed.     The   mate  was  then  directed  to  send  down 

7 


14  G  .  JACKTIER. 

various  articles  out  of  the  top,  and  to  get  the  topgallant  and 
royal  yards  on  deck.  Spike  carried  his  precautions  so  far  as  to 
have  the  mainsail  lowered,  it  ordinarily  brailing  at  that  season 
of  the  year,  with  a  standing  gaff.  With  this  disposition  com- 
pleted, the  captain  seemed  more  at  his  ease,  and  went  below 
to  join  Senor  Moutefalderon  in  a  siesta.  The  Mexican,  for  such, 
iu  truth,  was  the  national  character  of  the  owner  of  the  schooner, 
had  preceded  him  in  this  indulgence ;  and  most  of  the  people 
of  the  brig  having  laid  themselves  down  to  sleep  under  the  heat 
of  the  hour,  Mulford  soon  enjoyed  auother  favorable  opportunity 
for  a  private  conference  with  Rose. 

"  Harry,"  commeuced  the  latter,  as  soon  as  they  were  alone, 
"  I  have  much  to  tell  you.  While  you  have  been  absent,  I 
have  overheard  a  conversation  between  this  Spanish  gentleman 
and  Spike  that  shows  the  last  is  in  treaty  with  the  other  for  the 
sale  of  the  brig.  Spike  extolled  his  vessel  to  the  skies,  while 
Don  Wan,  as  he  calls  him,  complains  that  the  brig  is  old  and 
cannot  last  long;  to  which  Spike  answered :  'To  be  sure  she  is 
old,  Senor  Moutefalderon,  but  she  will  last  as  long  as  your  war, 
and  under  a  bold  captain  might  be  made  to  return  her  cost  a 
hundred-fold !'  What  war  can  he  mean,  and  to  what  does 
such  a  discourse  tend  ?" 

"The  war  alludes  to  the  war  now  existing  between  America 
and  Mexico,  and  the  money  to  be  made  is  to  be  plundered  at 
sea,  from  our  own  merchant-vessels.  If  Don  Juan  Moutefalde- 
ron is  really  in  treaty  for  the  purchase  of  the  brig,  it  is  to  con- 
vert her  into  a  Mexican  cruiser,  either  public  or  private." 

"  But  this  would  be  treason  on  the  part  of  Spike !" 

"  Not  more  so  than  supplying  the  enemy  with  gunpowder,  as 
he  has  just  been  doing.  I  have  ascertained  the  reason  he  was 
so  unwilling  to  be  overhauled  by  the  revenue  steamer,  as  well 
as  the  reason  why  the  revenue  steamer  wished  so  earnestly  to 
overhaul  us.  Each  barrel  of  flour  contains  another  of  gunpow- 
der, and  that  has  been  sold  to  this  Senor  Moutefalderon,  who  is 
doubtless  an  officer  of  the  Mexican  government,  and  no  smuggler." 


JACK     TIER.  147 

"  He  has  been  at  New  York,  this  very  summer,  I  know," 
continued  Rose,  "  for  he  spoke  of  Lis  visit,  and  made  such  other 
remarks  as  leaves  no  doubt  that  Spike  expected  to  find  him 
here  on  this  very  day  of  the  month.  He  also  paid  Spike  a 
large  sum  of  money  in  doubloons,  and  took  back  the  bag  to  his 
schooner,  when  he  had  done  so,  after  showing  the  captain 
enough  was  left  to  pay  for  the  brig  could  they  only  agree  on 
the  terms  of  their  bargain." 

"  Ay,  ay ;  it  is  all  plain  enough  now :  Spike  has  determined 
on  a  desperate  push  for  a  fortune ;  and  foreseeing  it  might  not, 
soon  be  in  his  power  to  return  to  New  York  in  safety,  he  has 
included  his  designs  on  you  and  your  fortune,  in  the  plot." 

"  My  fortune  !  the  trifle  I  possess  can  scarcely  be  called  a  for- 
tune, Harry !" 

"  It  would  be  a  fortune  to  Spike,  Rose ;  and  I  shall  be  honest 
enough  to  own  it  would  be  a  fortune  to  me.  I  say  this  frankly, 
for  I  do  believe  you  think  too  well  of  me  to  suppose  that  I  seek 
you  for  any  other  reason  than  the  ardent  love  I  bear  your 
person  and  character ;  but  a  fact  is  not  to  be  denied  be- 
cause it  may  lead  certain  persons  to  distrust  our  motives. 
Spike  is  poor,  like  myself;  and  the  brig  is  not  only  getting 
to  be  very  old,  but  she  has  been  losing  money  for  the  last  twelve 
months." 

Mulford  and  Rose  now  conversed  long  and  confidentially  on 
their  situation  and  prospects.  The  mate  neither  magnified  nor 
concealed  the  dangers  of  both  ;  but  freely  pointed  out  the  risk 
to  himself,  in  being  on  board  a  vessel  that  was  aiding  and  com- 
forting the  enemy.  It  was  determined  between  them  that  both 
would  quit  the  brig  the  moment  an  opportunity  offered ;  and 
the  mate  even  went  so  far  as  to  propose  an  attempt  to  escape 
'n  one  of  the  boats,  although  he  might  incur  the  hazards-  of  a 
double  accusation,  those  of  mutiny  and  larceny,  for  making  the 
experiment.  Unfortunately,  neither  Rose,  nor  her  aunt,  nor , 
Biddy,  nor  Jack  Tier,  had  seen  the  barrel  of  powder,  and  neither 
2ould  testify  as  to  the  true  character  of  Spike's  connection  with 


148  JACK     TIER. 

the  schooner.  It  was  manifestly  necessary,  therefore,  indepen- 
dently of  the  risks  that  might  be  run  by  "  bearding  the  lion  in 
his  den,"  to  proceed  with  great  intelligence  and  caution. 

This  dialogue  between  Harry  and  Rose  occurred  just  after 
the  turn  in  the  day,  and  lasted  fully  an  hour.  Each  had  been 
coo  much  interested  to  observe  the  heavens,  but,  as  they  were 
on  the  point  of  separating,  Rose  pointed  out  to  her  companion 
the  unusual  and  most  menacing  aspect  of  the  sky  in  the  western 
horizon.  It  appeared  as  if  a  fiery  heat  was  glowing  there  be- 
hind a  curtain  of  black  vapor ;  and  what  rendered  it  more  re- 
markable, was  the  circumstance  that  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
placidity  prevailed  in  all  other  parts  of  the  heavens.  Mulford 
scarce  knew  what  to  make  of  it ;  his  experience  not  going  so 
far  as  to  enable  him  to  explain  the  novel  and  alarming  appear- 
ance. He  stepped  on  a  gun,  and  gazed  around  him  for  a  mo- 
ment. There  lay  the  schooner,  without  a  being  visible  on  board 
of  her,  and  there  stood  the  lighthouse,  gloomy  in  its  desertion 
and  solitude.  The  birds  alone  seemed  to  be  alive  and  con- 
scious of  what  was  approaching.  They  were  all  on  the  wing, 
wheeling  wildly  in  the  air,  and  screaming  discordantly,  as  be- 
longed to  their  habits.  The  young  man  leaped  off  the  gun,  gave 
a  loud  call  to  Spike  at  the  companion-way,  and  sprang  forward 
to  call  all  hands. 

One  minute  only  was  lost,  when  every  seaman  on  board  the 
Swash,  from  the  captain  to  Jack  Tier,  was  on  deck.  Mulford 
met  Spike  at  the  cabin  door,  and  pointed  towards  the  fiery 
column  that  was  booming  down  upon  the  anchorage,  with  a 
velocity  and  direction  that  would  now  admit  of  no  misinterpre- 
tation. For  one  instant  that  sturdy  old  seaman  stood  aghast ; 
gazing  at  the  enemy  as  one  conscious  of  his  irn potency  might 
have  been  supposed  to  do,  who  quailed  before  an  assault  that  he 
foresaw  must  prove  irresistible.  Then  his  native  spirit,  and  most 
of  all  the  effects  of  training  began  to  show  themselves  in  him, 
and  he  became  at  once,  not  only  the  man  again,  but  the  res- 
olute, practised,  and  ready  commander. 


JACK     TIER.  149 

"  Come  aft  to  the  spring,  men,"  he  shouted  ;  "  clap  on  the 
spring,  Mr.  Mulford,  and  bring  the  brig  head  to  wind." 

This  order  was  obeyed  as  seamen  best  obey,  in  cases  of  sudden 
and  extreme  emergency ;  or  with  intelligence,  aptitude,  and 
power.  The  brig  had  swung  nearly  round  in  the  desired  direc- 
tion when  the  tornado  struck  her.  It  will  be  difficult,  we  do 
not  know  but  it  is  impossible,  to  give  a  clear  and  accurate  ac- 
count of  what  followed.  As  most  of  our  readers  have  doubtless 
felt  how  great  is  the  power  of  the  wind,  whiffling  and  pressing 
different  ways,  in  sudden  and  passing  gusts,  they  have  only  to 
imagine  this  power  increased  many,  many  fold,  and  the  baffling 
currents  made  furious,  as  it  might  be,  by  meeting  with  resistance, 
to  form  some  notion  of  the  appalling  strength  and  frightful  in- 
constancy with  which  it  blew  for  about  a  minute. 

Notwithstanding  the  circumstance  of  Spike's  precaution  had 
greatly  lessened  the  danger,  every  man  on  the  deck  of  the  Swash 
believed  the  brig  was  gone  when  the  gust  struck  her.  Over  she 
went,  in  fact,  until  the  water  came  pouring  in  above  her  half- 
ports,  like  so  many  little  cascades,  and  spouting  up  through  her 
scupper-holes,  resembling  the  blowing  of  young  whales.  It  was 
the  whiffling  energy  of  the  tornado  that  alone  saved  her.  As 
if  disappointed  in  not  destroying  its  intended  victim  at  one 
swoop,  the  tornado  "  let  up"  in  its  pressure,  like  a  dexterous 
wrestler,  making  a  fresh  aud  desperate  effort  to  overturn  the 
vessel,  by  a  slight  variation  iu  its  course.  That  change  saved 
the  Swash.  She  righted,  and  even  rolled  in  the  other  direc- 
tion, or  what  might  be  called  to  windward,  with  her  decks 
full  of  water.  For  a  minute  longer  these  baffling,  changing 
gusts  continued,  each  causing  the  brig  to  bow  like  a  reed  to 
their  power,  one  lifting  as  another  pressed  her  down  ;  and  then 
the  weight,  or  the  more  dangerous  part  of  the  tornado  was 
passed,  though  it  continued  to  blow  heavily,  always  in  whiffling 
blasts,  several  minutes  longer. 

During  the  weight  of  the  gust,  no  one  had  leisure,  or  indeed 
inclination  to  look  to  aujjht  bevond  its  effect  on  the  brie.     Ilad 


150  JACK     TIER. 

one  been  otherwise  disposed,  the  attempt  would  have  been  use- 
less, for  the  wind  had  filled  the  air  with  spray,  and  near  the 
islets  even  with  sand.  The  lurid  but  fiery  tinge,  too,  interposed 
a  veil  that  no  human  eye  could  penetrate.  As  the  tornado 
passed  onward,  however,  and  the  winds  lulled,  the  air  again  be- 
came clear,  and  in  five  minutes  after  the  moment  when  the 
Swash  lay  nearly  on  her  side,  with  her  lower  yard-arm  actually 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  water,  all  was  still  and  placid  around 
her,  as  one  is  accustomed  to  see  the  ocean  in  a  calm  of  a  sum- 
mer's afternoon.  Then  it  was  that  those  who  had  been  in  such 
extreme  jeopardy  could  breathe  freely  and  look  about  them.  On 
board  the  Swash  all  was  well — not  a  rope-yarn  had  parted,  or 
an  eye-bolt  drawn.  The  timely  precautions  of  Spike  had  saved 
his  brig,  and  great  was  his  joy  thereat. 

In  the  midst  of  the  infernal  din  of  the  tornado,  screams  had 
ascended  from  the  cabin,  and  the  instant  he  could  quit  the  deck 
with  propriety,  Mulford  sprang  below,  in  order  to  ascertain  their 
cause.  He  apprehended  that  some  of  the  females  had  been 
driven  to  leeward  when  the  brig  went  over,  and  that  part  of  the 
luggage  or  furniture  had  fallen  on  them.  In  the  main  cabin, 
the  mate  found  Senor  Montefalderon  just  quitting  his  berth, 
composed,  gentleman-like,  and  collected.  Josh  was  braced  in 
a  corner  nearly  gray  with  fear,  while  Jack  Tier  still  lay  on  the 
cabin  floor,  at  the  last  point  to  which  he  had  rolled.  One  word 
sufficed  to  let  Don  Juan  know  that  the  gust  had  passed,  and  the 
brig  was  safe,  when  Mulford  tapped  at  the  door  of  the  inner 
cabin.     Rose  appeared  pale,  but  calm  and  unhurt. 

"  Is  any  one  injured  ?"  asked  the  young  man,  his  mind  relieved 
at  once,  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  she  who  most  occupied  his 
thoughts  was  safe ;  "  we  heard  screams  from  this  cabin." 

"  My  aunt  and  Biddy  have  been  frightened,"  answered  Rose, 
"  but  neither  has  been  hurt.  Oh,  Harry,  what  terrible  thing 
has  happened  to  us  ?     I  heard  the  roaring  of — " 

"  'Twas  a  tornado,"  interrupted  Mulford  eagerly,  "  but  'tis 
over.     'Twas  one  of  those  sudden  and  tremendous  ousts  that 


JACK     TIER,  151 

sometimes  occur  within  the  tropics,  in  which  the  changer  is 
usually  in  the  first  shock.  If  no  one  is  injured  in  this  cabin, 
no  one  is  injured  at  all." 

"Oh,  Mr.  Mulford — dear  Mr.  Mulford !"  exclaimed  the  relict, 
from  the  corner  into  which  she  had  been  followed  and  jammed 
by  Biddy,  "  Oh,  Mr.  Mulford,  are  we  foundered  or  not  ?" 

"  Ileaven  be  praised,  not,  my  dear  ma'am,  though  we  came 
nearer  to  it  than  I  ever  was  before." 

"  Are  we  cap-asided  ?" 

"  Nor  that,  Mrs.  Budd ;  the  brig  is  as  upright  as  a  church." 

"  Upright  I"  repeated  Biddy,  in  her  customary  accent :  "  is  it 
as  a  church  ?  Sure,  then,  Mr.  Mate,  'tis  a  Presbyterian  church 
that  you  mean,  and  that  is  always  totterin'." 

"  Catholic,  or  Dutch — no  church  in  York  is  more  completely 
up  and  down  than  the  brig  at  this  moment." 

"  Get  off  of  me — get  off  of  me,  Biddy,  and  let  me  rise,"  said 
the  widow,  with  dignity.  "  The  danger  is  over,  I  see,  and,  as 
we  return  our  thanks  for  it,  we  have  the  consolation  of  knowing 
that  we  have  done  our  duty.  It  is  incumbent  on  all,  at  such 
moments,  to  be  at  their  posts,  and  to  set  examples  of  decision 
and  prudence." 

As  Mulford  saw  all  was  well  in  the  cabin,  he  hastened  on  deck, 
followed  by  Senor  Montefalderon.  Just  as  they  emerged  from 
the  companion-way,  Spike  was  hailing  the  forecastle. 

"  Forecastle,  there,"  he  cried,  standing  on  the  trunk  himself 
as  he  did  so,  aud  moving  from  side  to  side,  as  if  to  catch  a  glimpse 
of  some  object  ahead. 

"  Sir,"  came  back  from  an  old  salt,  who  wras  coiling  up  rio-o-inof 
in  that  seat  of  seamanship. 

"  Where-away  is  the  schooner  ?  She  ought  to  be  dead  ahead 
of  us,  as  we  tend  now  ;  but  blast  me  if  I  can  see  as  much  as  her 
mast-heads." 

At  this  suggestion,  a  dozen  men  sprang  upon  guns  or  other 
objects,  to  look  for  the  vessel  in  question.  The  old  salt  forward, 
however,  had  much  the  best  chance,  for  he  stepped  on  the  heel 


152  JACK     TIER. 

of  the  bowsprit,  and  walked  as  far  out  as  the  knight-hcads  to 
command  the  whole  view  ahead  of  the  brig.  There  he  stood 
half  a  minute,  looking  first  on  one  side  of  the  head-gear,  then 
the  other,  when  he  gave  his  trowsers  a  hitch,  put  a  fresh  quid 
in  his  mouth,  and  called  out  in  a  voice  almost  as  hoarse  as  the 
tempest  that  had  just  gone  by — 

"  The  schooner  has  gone  down  at  her  anchor,  sir.  There's 
her  buoy  watching  still,  as  if  nothing  had  happened ;  but  as  for 
the  craft  itself,  there's  not  so  much  as  a  bloody  yard-arm,  or 
mast-head  of  her  to  be  seen  !" 

This  news  produced  a  sensation  in  the  brig  at  once,  as  may  be 
supposed.  Even  Seiior  Montefalderon,  a  quiet,  gentleman-like 
person,  altogether  superior  in  deportment  to  the  bustle  and  fuss 
that  usually  mark  the  manners  of  persons  in  trade,  was  dis- 
turbed ;  for  to  him  the  blow  was  heavy  indeed.  Whether  he 
were  acting  for  himself,  or  was  an  agent  of  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment, the  loss  was  much  the  same. 

"  Tom  is  right  enough,"  put  in  Spike,  rather  coolly  for  the 
circumstances ;  "that  'ere  schooner  of  yourn  has  foundered,  Don 
Wan,  as  any  one  can  see.  She  must  have  capsized  and  filled,  for 
I  obsarved  they  had  left  the  hatches  off,  meaning,  no  doubt,  to 
make  an  end  of  the  storage  as  soon  as  they  had  done  sleeping." 

"  And  what  has  become  of  all  her  men,  Don  Esteban  ?"  for 
bo  the  Mexican  politely  called  his  companion.  "  Have  all  my 
poor  countrymen  perished  in  this  disaster  ?" 

"  I  fear  they  have,  Don  Wan,  for  I  see  no  head  as  of  any  one 
swimming.  The  vessel  lay  so  near  that  island  next  to  it,  that 
a  poor  swimmer  would  have  no  difficulty  in  reaching  the  place  ; 
but  there  is  no  living  thing  to  be  seen.  But  man  the  boat, 
men ;  we  will  go  to  the  spot,  Senor,  and  examine  for  ourselves." 

There  were  two  boats  in  the  water,  and  alongside  of  the  brig. 
One  was  the  Swash's  yawl,  a  small  but  convenient  craft,  while 
the  other  was  much  larger,  fitted  with  a  sail,  and  had  all  the 
appearance  of  having  been  built  to  withstand  breezes  and  seas, 
Mulford  felt  perfectly  satisfied,  the  moment  he  saw  this  boat, 


JACK     TIER.  Iu3 

which  had  come  into  the  haven  in  tow  of  the  schooner,  that  it 
bad  been  originally  in  the  service  of  tbe  lighthouse-keeper.  As 
there  was  a  very  general  desire  among  those  on  the  quarter-deck 
to  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  schooner,  Spike  ordered  both  boats 
manned,  jumping  into  the  yawl  himself,  accompanied  by  Don 
Juan  Montefalderon,  and  telling  Mulford  to  follow  with  the 
larger  craft,  bringing  with  him  as  many  of  the  females  as  might 
choose  to  accompany  him.  As  Mrs.  Budd  thought  it  incum- 
bent on  her  to  be  active  in  such  a  scene,  all  did  go,  including 
Biddy,  though  with  great  reluctance  on  the  part  of  Bose. 

With  the  buoy  for  a  guide,  Spike  had  no  difficulty  in  finding 
the  spot  where  the  schooner  lay.  She  had  scarcely  shifted  her 
berth  in  the  least,  there  having  been  no  time  for  her  even  to 
swing  to  the  gust ;  but  she  had  probably  capsized  at  the  first 
blast,  filled,  and  gone  down  instantly.  The  water  was  nearly 
as  clear  as  the  calm,  mild  atmosphere  of  the  tropics ;  and  it 
was  almost  as  easy  to  discern  the  vessel,  and  all  her  hamper, 
as  if  she  lay  on  a  beach.  She  had  sunk  as  she  filled,  or  on  her 
side,  and  still  continued  in  that  position.  As  the  water  was 
little  more  than  three  fathoms  deep,  the  upper  side  was  sub- 
merged but  a  few  inches,  and  her  yard-arms  would  have  been 
out  of  the  water,  but  for  the  circumstance  that  the  yards  had 
canted  under  the  pressure. 

At  first,  no  sign  was  seen  of  any  of  those  who  had  been  on 
board  this  ill-fated  schooner  when  she  went  down.  It  was  known 
that  twenty-one  souls  were  in  her,  including  the  man  and  the 
boy  who  had  belonged  to  the  lighthouse.  As  the  boat  moved 
slowly  over  this  sad  ruin,  however,  a  horrible  and  startling  spec- 
tacle came  in  view.  Two  bodies  were  seen,  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  surface  of  the  water,  one  grasped  in  the  arms  of  the  other, 
in  the  gripe  of  despair.  The  man  held  in  the  grasp  was  kept 
beneath  the  water  solely  by  the  death-lock  of  his  companion, 
who  was  himself  held  where  he  floated,  by  the  circumstance 
Lhat  one  of  his  feet  was  entangled  in  a  rope.  The  struggle 
could  not  have  been  long  over,  for  the  two  bodies  were  slowly 


154  JACK      TIER. 

settling  towards  the  bottom  when  first  seen.  It  is  probable  that 
both  these  men  had  more  than  once  risen  to  the  surface  in  their 
dreadful  struggle.  Spike  seized  a  boat-hook,  and  made  an  effort 
to  catch  the  clothes  of  the  nearest  body,  but  ineffectually,  both 
sinking  to  the  sands  beneath,  lifeless,  and  without  motion. 
There  being  no  sharks  in  sight,  Mulford  volunteered  to  dive  and 
fasten  a  line  to  one  of  these  unfortunate  men,  whom  Don  Juan 
declared  at  once  was  the  schooner's  captain.  Some  little  time 
was  lost  in  procuring  a  lead-line  from  the  brig,  when  the  lead 
was  dropped  alongside  of  the  drowned.  Provided  with  another 
piece  of  the  same  sort  of  line,  which  had  a  small  running 
bowline  around  that  which  was  fastened  to  tho  lead,  the  mate 
made  his  plunge,  and  went  down  with  great  vigor  of  arm.  It 
required  resolution  and  steadiness  to  descend  so  far  into  salt 
water ;  but  Harry  succeeded,  and  rose  with  the  bodies,  which 
came  up  with  the  slightest  impulse.  All  were  immediately 
got  into  the  boat,  and  away  the-  latter  went  towards  the 
lighthouse,  which  was  nearer  and  more  easy  of  access  than  the 
brig. 

It  is  probable  that  one  of  these  unfortunate  men  might  have 
been  revived  under  judicious  treatment ;  but  he  was  not  fated 
to  receive  it.  Spike,  who  knew  nothing  of  such  matters,  under- 
took to  direct  every  thing,  and,  instead  of  having  recourse  to 
warmth  and  gentle  treatment,  he  ordered  the  bodies  to  be  rolled 
on  a  cask,  suspended  them  by  the  heels,  and  resorted  to  a  sort 
of  practice  that  might  have  destroyed  well  men,  instead  of  re- 
suscitating those  in  whom  the  vital  spark  was  dormant,  if  not 
actually  extinct. 

Two  hours  later,  Rose,  seated  in  her  own  cabin,  unavoidably 
overheard  the  following  dialogue,  which  passed  in  English,  a 
language  that  Senor  Montefalderon  spoke  perfectly  well,  as  has 
been  said. 

"  Well,  Senor,''  said  Spike,  "  I  hope  this  little  accident  will 
not  prevent  our  final  trade.  You  will  want  the  brig  now,  tc 
take  the  schooner's  place." 


JACK     TIER.  lot 

"And  bow  am  I  to  pay  you  for  the  brig,  Senor  Spike,  even 
if  I  buy  her  ?" 

"  I'll  ventur'  to  guess  tbere  is  plenty  of  money  in  Mexico. 
Though  tbey  do  say  tbe  government  is  so  backward  about  pay- 
ing, I  have  always  found  you  punctual,  and  am  not  afraid  to 
put  faitb  in  you  ag'in." 

"  But  I  bave  no  longer  any  money  to  pay  you  half  in  baud, 
as  I  did  for  the  powder,  when  last  in  New  York." 

"  Tbe  bag  was  pretty  well  lined  with  doubloons  when  I  saw 
it  last,  Senor." 

"  And  do  you  know  where  that  bag  is ;  and  where  tbere  is 
another  that  holds  tbe  same  sum  ?" 

Spike  stalled,  and  be  mused  in  silence  some  little  time,  ere 
be  again  spoke. 

"  I  bad  forgotten,"  he  at  length  answered.  "  The  gold  must 
have  all  gone  down  in  the  schooner,  along  with  the  powder  !" 

"  And  tbe  poor  men  !" 

"  Why,  as  for  the  men,  Senor,  more  may  be  had  for  the 
asking;  but  powder  and  doubloons  will  be  hard  to  find 
when  most  wanted.  Then  the  men  were  poor  men,  accordin' 
to  my  idees  of  what  an  able  seaman  should  be,  or  they  never 
would  have  let  their  schooner  turn  turtle  with  them  as  she 
did." 

"  We  will  talk  of  tbe  money,  Don  Esteban,  if  you  please," 
said  the  Mexican,  with  reserve. 

"  With  all  my  heart,  Don  Wan — nothing  is  more  agreeable 
to  me  than  money.  How  many  of  them  dout  loons  shall  fall 
to  my  share,  if  I  raise  the  schooner  and  put  you  in  possession 
of  your  craft  again  ?" 

"  Can  that  be  done,  Senor  ?"  demanded  Don  Juan,  earnestly. 

"  A  seaman  can  do  almost  any  thing,  in  that  way,  Don  Wan, 
if  you  will  give  him  time  and  meanp .  For  one-half  the  doubloons 
I  can  find  in  tbe  wreck,  tbe  job  shall  be  done." 

"  You  can  have  them,"  answered  Don  Juan,  quietly,  a  good 
d3al  surprised  that  Spike  should  deem  it  necessary  to  offer  him 


150  JACK     TIER, 

any  part  of  the  sum  he  might  find.     "As  for  the  powder,  I  sup 
pose  that  is  lost  to  my  country." 

"  Not  at  all,  Don  Wan.  The  flour  is  well  packed  around  it, 
and  I  don't  expect  it  would  take  any  harm  in  a  month.  I  shall 
not  only  turn  over  the  flour  to  you,  just  as  if  nothing  had  hap- 
pened, but  I  shall  put  four  first-rate  hands  aboard  your  schooner, 
who  will  take  her  into  port  for  you,  with  a  good  deal  more  sar- 
tainty  than  forty  of  the  men  you  had.  My  mate  is  a  prime 
navigator." 

This  concluded  the  bargain,  every  word  of  which  was  heard 
by  Rose,  and  every  word  of  which  she  did  not  fail  to  commu- 
nicate to  Mulford,  the  moment  there  was  an  opportunity.  The 
young  man  heard  it  with  great  interest,  telling  Rose  that  he 
should  do  all  he  could  to  assist  in  raising  the  schooner,  in  the 
hope  that  something  might  turn  up  to  enable  him  to  escape  in 
her,  taking  off  Rose  and  her  aunt.  As  for  his  carrying  her 
into  a  Mexican  port,  let  them  trust  him  for  that !  Agreeably  to 
the  arrangement,  orders  were  given  that  afternoon  to  commence 
the  necessary  preparations  for  the  work,  and  considerable  pro- 
gress was  made  in  them  by  the  time  the  Swash's  people  were 
ordered  to  knock  off  work  for  the  night. 

After  the  sun  had  set,  the  reaction  in  the  currents  again 
commenced,  and  it  blew  for  a  few  hours  heavily,  during  the 
nio-ht.  Towards  morning,  however,  it  moderated;  and  when 
the  sun  reappeared,  it  scarcely  ever  diffused  its  rays  over  a  more 
peaceful  or  quiet  day.  Spike  caused  all  hands  to  be  called,  and 
immediately  set  about  the  important  business  he  had  before  him. 

In  order  that  the  vessel  might  be  as  free  as  possible,  Jack  Tier 
was  directed  to  skull  the  females  ashore,  in  the  brig's  yawl ; 
Sefior  Montefalderon,  a  man  of  polished  manners,  as  we  main- 
tain is  very  apt  to  be  the  case  with  Mexican  gentlemen,  what- 
ever may  be  the  opinion  of  this  good  republic  on  the  subject 
just  at  this  moment,  asked  permission  to  be  of  the  party.  Mul- 
ford found  an  opportunity  to  beg  Rose,  if  they  landed  at  the 
light,  to  reconnoitre  the  place  well,  with  a  -view  to  ascertain 


JACK     TIER.  157 

what  facilities  it  could  afford  in  an  attempt  to  escape.  They  did 
land  at  the  light,  and  glad  enough  were  Mrs.  Budd,  Rose,  and 
Biddy  to  place  their  feet  on  terra  fir  ma,  after  so  long  a  confine- 
ment to  the  narrow  limits  of  a  vessel. 

"  Well,"  said  Jack  Tier,  as  they  walked  up  to  the  spot  where 
the  buildings  stood,  "  this  is  a  rum  place  for  a  light'us,  Miss 
Rose,  and  I  don't  wonder  the  keeper  and  his  messmates  has 
cleared  out." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  say,"  observed  Senor  Montefalderon, 
whose  countenance  expressed  the  concern  he  really  felt,  "  that 
the  keeper  and  his  only  companion,  a  boy,  were  on  board  the 
schooner,  and  have  perished  in  her,  in  common  with  so'  many 
of  my  poor  countrymen.  There  are  the  graves  of  two  whom 
we  buried  here  last  evening,  after  vain  efforts  to  restore  them 
to  life." 

"  What  a  dreadful  catastrophe  it  has  been,  Senor !"  said  Rose, 
whose  sweet  countenance  eloquently  expressed  the  horror  and 
regret  she  so  naturally  felt — "  Twenty  fellow-beings  hurried  into 
eternity  without  even  an  instant  for  prayer  !" 

"  You  feel  for  them,  Senorita  ;  it  is  natural  you  should,  and 
it  is  natural  that  I,  their  countryman  and  leader,  should  feel  for 
them  also.  I  do  not  know  what  God  has  in  reserve  for  my 
unfortunate  country  !  We  may  have  cruel  and  unscrupulous 
men  among  us,  Senorita,  but  we  have  thousands  who  are  just, 
and  brave,  and  honorable." 

"  So  Mr.  Mulford  tells  me,  Senor ;  and  he  has  been  much  in 
your  ports,  on  the  west  coast." 

"  I  like  that  young  man,  and  wonder  not  a  little  at  his  and 
your  situation  in  this  brig,"  rejoined  the  Mexican,  dropping  his 
roice  so  as  not  to  be  heard  by  their  companions,  as  they  walked 
a  little  ahead  of  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy.  "  The  Senor  Spike  is 
scarcely  worthy  to  be  his  commander  or  your  guardian." 

"  Yet  you  find  him  worthy  of  your  intercourse  and  trust, 
Don  Juan  ?" 

The  Mexican  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  smiled  equivocally ; 


158  JACK     TIER. 

still,  in  a  melancholy  manner.  It  would  seem  he  did  not  deem 
it  wise  to  push  this  branch  of  the  subject  further,  siuce  he  turned 
to  another. 

"I  like  the  Senor  Mulford,"  he  resumed,  "for  his  general 
deportment  and  principles,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  of  him  on  so 
short  an  acquaintance." 

"  Excuse  me,  Senor,"  interrupted  Rose,  hurriedly — "  but  you 
never  saw  him  until  you  met  him  here." 

"  Never— ^-1  understand  you,  Senorita,  and  can  do  full  justice 
to  the  young  man's  character.  I  am  willing  to  think  he  did 
not  know  the  errand  of  his  vessel,  or  I  should  not  have  seen 
him  now.  But  what  I  most  like  him  for  is  this  :  Last  night, 
during  the  gale,  he  and  I  walked  the  deck  together  for  an  hour. 
We  talked  of  Mexico,  and  of  this  war,  so  unfortunate  for  my 
country  already,  and  which  may  become  still  more  so,  when  he 
uttered  this  noble  sentiment :  '  My  country  is  more  powerful 
than  yours,  Senor  Montefalderon,'  he  said,  '  and  in  this  it  has 
been  more  favored  by  God.  You  have  suffered  from  ambitious 
rulers,  and  from  military  rule,  while  we  have  been  advancing 
under  the  arts  of  peace,  favored  by  a  most  beneficent  Provi- 
dence. As  for  this  war,  I  know  but  little  about  it,  though  I 
dare  say  the  Mexican  government  may  have  been  wrong  in  some 
things  that  it  might  have  controlled,  and  some  that  it  might, 
not ;  but  let  right  be  where  it  will,  I  am  sorry  to  see  a  nation 
that  has  taken  so  firm  a  stand  in  favor  of  popular  government, 
pressed  upon  so  hard  by  another  that  is  supposed  to  be  the 
great  support  of  such  principles.  America  and  Mexico  are 
neighbors,  and  ought  to  be  friends ;  and  while  I  do  not,  cannot 
blame  my  own  country  for  pursuing  the  war  with  vigor,  nothing 
would  please  me  more  than  to  hear  peace  proclaimed.'  " 

"  That  is  just  like  Harry  Mulford,"  said  Rose,  thoughtfully,  as 
soon  as  her  companion  ceased  to  speak.  "  I  do  wish,  Senor, 
that  there  could  be  no  use  for  this  powder,  that  is  now  buried 
in  the  sea." 

Don  Juan  Montefalderon  smiled,  and  seemed  a  little  surprised 


JACK     TIE  R.  159 

that  the  fair  young  thing  at  his  side  should  have  known  of  the 
treacherous  contents  of  the  flour-barrels.  No  doubt  he  found  it 
inexplicable,  that  persons  like  Rose  and  Mulford  should,  seem- 
ingly, be  united  with  one  like  Spike ;  but  he  was  too  well  bred, 
and,  indeed,  too  effectually  mystified,  to  push  the  subject  further 
than  might  be  discreet. 

By  this  time  they  were  near  the  entrance  of  the  lighthouse, 
into  which  the  whole  party  entered,  in  a  sort  of  mute  awe  at  its 
silence  and  solitude.  At  Senor  Montefalderon's  invitation,  they 
ascended  to  the  lantern,  whence  they  could  command  a  wide 
and  fair  view  of  the  surrounding  waters.  The  reef  was  much 
more  apparent  from  that  elevation  than  from  below  ;  and  Rose 
could  see  that  numbers  of  its  rocks  were  bare,  while  on  other 
parts  of  it  there  was  the  appearance  of  many  feet  of  water. 
Rose  gazed  at  it  with  longing  eyes,  for,  from  a  few  remarks  that 
had  fallen  from  Mulford,  she  suspected  he  had  hopes  of  escaping 
among  its  channels  and  coral. 

As  they  descended  and  walked  through  the  buildings,  Rose 
also  took  good  heed  of  the  supplies  the  place  afforded.  There 
were  flour,  and  beef,  and  pork,  and  many  other  of  the  common 
articles  of  food,  as  well  as  water  in  a  cistern  that  caught  it  as 
it  flowed  from  the  roof  of  the  dwelling.  Water  was  also  to  be 
found  in  casks — nothing  like  a  spring  or  a  well  existing  among 
those  islets.  All  these  things  Rose  noted,  putting  them  aside  in 
her  memory  for  ready  reference  hereafter. 

In  the  mean  time  the  mariners  were  not  idle.  Spike  moved 
his  brig,  and  moored  her,  head  and  stern,  alongside  of  the  wreck, 
before  the  people  got  their  breakfasts.  As  soon  as  that  meal 
was  ended,  both  captain  and  mate  set  about  their  duty  in  earnest. 
Mulford  carried  out  an  anchor  on  the  off-side  of  the  Swash,  and 
dropped  it  at  a  distance  of  about  eighty  fathoms  from  the  ves- 
sel's beam.  Purchases  were  brought  from  both  mast-heads  of 
the  brig  to  the  chain  of  this  anchor,  and  were  hove  upon  until 
the  vessel  was  given  a  heel  of  more  than  a  streak,  and  the  cable 
was  tolerably  taut.     Other  purchases  were  got  up  opposite,  and 


160  JACK     TIER. 

overhauled  down,  in  readiness  to  take  hold  of  the  schoouer's 
masts.  The  anchor  of  the  schooner  was  weighed  hy  its  buoy- 
rope,  and  the  chain,  after  being  rove  through  the  upper  or 
opposite  hawse-hole,  brought  in  on  board  the  Swash.  Another 
chain  was  dropped  astern,  in  such  a  way,  that  when  the  schoonei 
came  upright,  it  would  be  sure  to  pass  beneath  her  keel,  some 
six  or  eight  feet  from  the  rudder.  Slings  were  then  sunk  over 
the  mast-heads,  and  the  purchases  were  hooked  on.  Hours 
were  consumed  in  these  preliminary  labors,  and  the  people  went 
to  dinner  as  soon  as  they  were  completed. 

When  the  men  had  dined,  Spike  brought  one  of  his  pur- 
chases to  the  windlass,  and  the  other  to  the  capstan,  though  not 
until  each  was  bowsed  taut  by  hand ;  a  few  minutes  having 
brought  the  strain  so  far  on  every  thing,  as  to  enable  a  seaman, 
like  Spike,  to  form  some  judgment  of  the  likelihood  that  his 
preventers  and  purchases  would  stand.  Some  changes  were 
found  necessary  to  equalize  the  strain,  but,  on  the  whole,  the 
captain  was  satisfied  with  his  work,  and  the  crew  were  soon 
ordered  to  "  heave  away  ;  the  windlass  best." 

In  the  course  of  half  an  hour  the  hull  of  the  vessel,  which 
lay  on  its  bilge,  began  to  turn  on  its  keel,  and  the  heads  of  the 
spars  to  rise  above  the  water.  This  was  the  easiest  part  of  the 
process,  all  that  was  required  of  the  purchases  being  to  turn 
over  a  mass  which  rested  on  the  sands  of  the  bay.  Aided  by 
the  long  levers  afforded  by  the  spars,  the  work  advanced  so 
rapidly,  that,  in  just  one  hour's  time  after  his  people  had  begun 
to  heave,  Spike  had  the  pleasure  to  see  the  schooner  standing 
upright,  alongside  of  his  own  brig,  though  still  sunk  to  the 
bottom. 

The  wreck  was  secured  in  this  position,  by  means  of  guys 
and  preventers,  in  order  that  it  might  not  again  cant,  when 
the  order  was  issued  to  hook  on  the  slings  that  were  to 
raise  it  to  the  surface.  These  slings  were  the  chains  of  the 
schooner,  one  of  which  went  under  her  keel,  while  for  the  other 
the  captain  trusted  to  the  strength  of  the  two  hawse-holes,  hav« 


JACK     TIER.  161 

ing  passed  the  cable  out  of  one  and  in  at  the  other,  in  a  way  to 
serve  his  purposes;  as  has  just  been  stated. 

When  all  was  ready,  Spike  mustered  his  crew,  and  made  a 
speech.  He  told  the  men  that  he  was  about  a  job  that  was  out 
of  the  usual  line  of  their  duty,  and  that  he  knew  they  had  a 
right  to  expect  extra  pay  for  such  extra  work.  The  schooner 
contained  money,  and  his  object  was  to  get  at  it.  If  he  suc- 
ceeded, their  reward  would  be  a  doubloon  a  man,  which  would 
be  earning  more  than  a  month's  wages  by  twenty-four  hours' 
work.  This  was  enough.  The  men  wanted  to  hear  no  more  ; 
but  they  cheered  their  commander,  and  set  about  their  task  in 
the  happiest  disposition  possible. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  the  object  to  be  first  achieved 
was  to  raise  a  vessel,  with  a  hold  filled  with  flour  and  gun- 
powder, from  off  the  bottom  of  the  bay  to  its  surface.  As  she 
stood,  the  deck  of  this  vessel  was  about  six  feet  under  water, 
and  every  one  will  understand  that  her  weight,  so  long  as  it 
was  submerged  in  a  fluid  so  dense  as  that  of  the  sea,  would  be 
much  more  manageable  than  if  suspended  in  air.  The  barrels, 
for  instance,  were  not  much  heavier  than  the  water  they  dis- 
placed ;  and  the  wood-work  of  the  vessel  itself  was,  on  the 
whole,  positively  lighter  than  the  element  in  which  it  had  sunk. 
As  for  the  water  in  the  hold,  that  was  of  the  same  weight  as 
the  water  on  the  outside  of  the  craft,  and  there  had  not  been 
much  to  cany  the  schooner  down,  besides  her  iron,  the  spars 
that  were  out  of  water,  and  her  ballast.  This  last,  some  ten  or 
twelve  tons  in  weight,  was,  in  fact,  the  principal  difficulty,  and 
alone  induced  Spike  to  have  any  doubts  about  his  eventual 
success.  There  was  no  foreseeing  the  result  until  he  had 
made  a  trial,  however  ;  and  the  order  was  again  given  to  "  heave 
away." 

To  the  infinite  satisfaction  of  the  Swash's  crew,  the  weight 
was  found  quite  manageable,  so  long  as  the  hull  remained  be- 
neath the  water.  Mulford,  with  three  or  four  assistants,  was 
kept  on  board  the  schooner  lightening  her,  by  getting  the  other 


162  JACK     TIER. 

anchor  off  her  bows,  and  throwing  the  different  objects  over 
board,  or  on  the  decks  of  the  brig.  By  the  time  the  bulwarks 
reached  the  surface,  as  much  was  gained  in  this  way  as  was 
lost  by  having  so  much  of  the  lighter  wood-work  rise  above  the 
water.  As  a  matter  of  course,  however,  the  weight  increased 
as  the  vessel  rose,  and  more  especially  as  the  lower  portion  of 
the  spars,  the  bowsprit,  boom,  &c,  from  being  buoyant  assist- 
ants, became  so  much  dead  weight  to  be  lifted. 

Spike  kept  a  watchful  eye  on  his  spars,  and  the  extra  sup- 
ports he  had  given  them,  lie  was  moving,  the  whole  time, 
from  point  to  point,  feeling  shrouds,  and  back-stays,  and  pre- 
venters, in  order  to  ascertain  the  degree  of  strain  on  each,  or 
examining  how  the  purchases  stood.  As  for  the  crew,  they 
cheered  at  their  toil,  incessantly,  passing  from  capstan  bars  to 
the  handspikes,  and  vice  versa.  They,  too,  felt  that  their  task 
was  increasing  in  resistance  as  it  advanced,  and  now  found  it 
more  difficult  to  gain  an  inch,  than  it  had  been  at  first  to  gain 
a  foot.  They  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  heaving  their  own  vessel 
out,  instead  of  heaving  the  other  craft  up,  and  it  was  not  long 
before  they  had  the  Swash  heeling  over  towards  the  wreck 
several  streaks.  The  strain,  moreover,  on  every  thing,  became 
not  only  severe,  but  somewhat  menacing.  Every  shroud,  back- 
stay, and  preventer  was  as  taut  as  a  bar  of  iron,  and  the  chain- 
cable  that  led  to  the  anchor  planted  off  abeam,  was  as  straight 
as  if  the  brig  were  riding  by  it  in  a  gale  of  wind.  One  or  two 
ominous  surges  aloft,  also,  had  been  heard,  and,  though  no 
more  than  straps  and  slings  settling  into  their  places  under  hard 
strains,  they  served  to  remind  the  crew  that  danger  might  come 
from  that  quarter.  Such  was  the  state  of  things,  when  Spike 
called  out  to  "  heave  and  pall,"  that  he  might  take  a  look  at 
the  condition  of  the  wreck. 

Although  a  great  deal  remained  to  be  done,  in  order  to  get 
the  schooner  to  float,  a  great  deal  had  already  been  done.  Her 
precise  condition  was  as  follows  :  Having  no  cabin  windowSj 
the  water  had  entered  her,  when  she  capsized,  by  the  only  four 


JACK     TIER.  163 

apertures  her  construction  possessed.  These  were  the  com- 
panion-way, or  cabin-doors ;  the  skylight ;  the  main  hatch,  or 
the  large  inlet  amid-ships,  by  which  cargo  went  up  and  down ; 
and  the  boobv-hatch,  which  was  the  counterpart  of  the  com- 
panion-way, forward,  being  intended  to  admit  of  ingress  to  the 
forecastle,  the  apartment  of  the  crew.  Each  of  these  hatchways, 
or  orifices,  had  the  usual  defences  of  "  coamings,"  strong  frame- 
work around  their  margins.  These  coamings  rose  six  or  eight 
inches  above  the  deck,  and  answered  the  double  purpose  of 
strengthening  the  vessel,  in  a  part  that,  without  them,  would  be 
weaker  than  common,  and  of  preventing  any  water  that  might 
be  washing  about  the  decks  from  running  below.  As  soon, 
therefore,  as  these  three  apertures,  or  their  coamings,  could  be 
raised  above  the  level  of  the  water  of  the  basin,  all  danger  of  the 
vessel's  receiving  any  further  tribute  of  that  sort  from  the  ocean 
would  be  over.  It  was  to  this  end,  consequently,  that  Spike's 
efforts  had  been  latterly  directed,  though  they  had  only  in  part 
succeeded.  The  schooner  possessed  a  good  deal  of  sheer,  as  it 
is  termed  ;  or,  her  two  extremities  rose  nearly  a  foot  above  her 
centre,  when  on  an  even  keel.  This  had  brought  her  exfremi- 
ties  first  to  the  surface,  and  it  was  the  additional  weight  which 
had  consequently  been  brought  into  the  air  that  had  so  much 
increased  the  strain,  and  induced  Spike  to  pause.  The  deck 
forward,  as  far  aft  as  the  foremast,  and  aft  as  far  forward  as  the 
centre  of  the  trunk,  or  to  the  skylight,  was  above  the  water,  or 
at  least  awash ;  while  all  the  rest  of  it  Avas  covered.  In  the 
vicinity  of  the  main-hatch  there  were  several  inches  of  water ; 
enough,  indeed,  to  leave  the  upper  edge  of  the  coamings  sub- 
merged by  about  an  inch.  To  raise  the  keel  that  inch  by 
means  of  the  purchases,  Spike  well  knew  would  cost  him  more 
labor,  and  would  incur  more  risk,  than  all  that  had  been  done 
previously,  and  he  paused  before  he  would  attempt  it. 

The  men  were  now  called  from  the  brig,  and  ordered  to  come 
on  board  the  schooner.  Spike  ascertained  by  actual  measure- 
ment how  much  was  wanted  to  brintr  the  coaming  of  the  main- 


1G4  JACK     Tl  E  R  . 

hatch  above  the  water,  until  which,  he  knew,  pumping  and 
bailing  would  be  useless.  lie  found  it  was  quite  an  inch,  and 
was  at  a  great  loss  to  know  how  that  inch  should  be  obtained. 
Mulford  advised  another  trial  with  the  handspikes  and  bars,  but 
to  this  Spike  would  not  consent.  He  believed  that  the  masts 
of  the  brig  had  already  as  much  pressure  on  them  as  they 
would  bear.  The  mate  next  proposed  getting  the  main  boom 
off  the  vessel,  and  to  lighten  the  craft  by  cutting  away  her  » 
bowsprit  and  masts.  The  captain  was  well  enough  disposed  to 
do  this,  but  he  doubted  whether  it  would  meet  with  the  appro- 
bation of  "  Don  Wan,"  wbo  was  still  ashore  with  Rose  and  her 
aunt,  and  who  probably  looked  forward  to  recovering  his  gun- 
powder by  means  of  those  very  spars.  At  length  the  carpenter 
hit  upon  a  plan  that  was  adopted. 

This  plan  was  very  simple,  though  it  had  its  own  ingenuity. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  water  could  now  only  enter  the 
vessel's  hold  at  the  main-hatch,  all  the  other  hatchways  having 
their  coamings  above  the  element.  The  carpenter  proposed, 
therefore,  that  the  main-hatches,  which  had  been  off  when  the 
tornado  occurred,  but  Avhicb  had  been  found  on  deck  when  the 
vessel  righted,  should  now  be  put  on,  oakum  being  first  laid 
along  in  their  rabbetings,  and  that  the  cracks  should  be  stuffed 
with  additional  oakum,  to  exclude  as  much  water  as  possible. 
He  thought  that  two  or  three  men,  by  using  calking-irons  for 
ten  minutes,  would  make  the  hatchway  so  tight  that  very  little 
water  would  penetrate.  While  this  was  doing,  he  himself  would 
bore  as  many  holes  forward  and  aft  as  he  could,  with  a  two-inch 
auger,  out  of  which  the  water  then  in  the  vessel  would-  be  cer- 
tain to  run.  Spike  was  delighted  with  this  project,  and  gave 
the  necessary  orders  on  the  spot. 

This  much  must  be  said  of  the  crew  of  the  Molly  Swash  : 
whatever  they  did  in  their  own  profession,  they  did  intelligently 
and  well.  On  the  present  occasion,  they  maintained  their  claim 
to  this  character,  and  were  both  active  and  expert.  The  batches 
were  soon  on,  and,  in  an  imperfect  manner,  calked.    While  this 


JACK     TIER.  1G5 

was  doing,  the  carpenter  got  into  a  boat,  and  going  under  the 
schooner's  bows,  where  a  whole  plank  was  out  of  water,  he  chose 
a  spot  between  two  of  the  timbers,  and  bored  a  hole  as  near 
the  surface  of  the  water  as  he  dared  to  do.  Not  satisfied  with 
one  hole,  however,  he  bored  many — choosing  both  sides  of  the 
vessel  to  make  them,  and  putting  some  aft  as  well  as  forward. 
In  a  word,  in  the  course  of  twenty  minutes  the  schooner  was 
tapped  in  at  least  a  dozen  places,  and  jets  of  water,  two  inches 
in  diameter,  were  spouting  from  her  on  each  bow,  and  under 
each  quarter. 

Spike  and  Mulford  noted  the  effect.  Some  water,  doubtless, 
still  worked  itself  into  the  vessel  about  the  main-hatch,  but  that 
more  flowed  from  her  by  means  of  the  outlets  just  named,  was 
quite  apparent.  After  close  watching  at  the  outlets  for  some 
time,  Spike  was  convinced  that  the  schooner  was  slowly  rising, 
the  intense  strain  that  still  came  from  the  brig  producing  that 
effect  as  the  vessel  gradually  became  lighter.  By  the  end  of 
half  an  hour,  there  could  be  no  longer  any  doubt,  the  holes, 
which  had  been  bored  within  an  inch  of  the  water,  being  now 
fully  two  inches  above  it.  The  auger  was  applied  anew,  still 
nearer  to  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  as  fresh  outlets  were  made, 
those  that  began  to  manifest  a  dulness  in  their  streams  were 
carefully  plugged. 

Spike  now  thought  it  was  time  to  take  a  look  at  the  state 
of  things  on  deck.  Here,  to  his  joy,  he  ascertained  that  the 
coamings  had  actually  risen  a  little  above  the  Water.  The  reader 
is  not  to  suppose,  by  this  rising  of  the  vessel,  that  she  had  be- 
come sufficiently  buoyant,  in  consequence  of  the  water  that  had 
run  out  of  her,  to  float  of  herself.  This  was  far  from  being 
the  case ;  but  the  constant  upward  pressure  from  the  brig,  which, 
on  mechanical  principles,  tended  constantly  to  bring  that  craft 
upright,  had  the  effect  to  lift  the  schooner  as  the  latter  was  gradu- 
ally relieved  from  the  weight  that  pressed  her  towards  the  bottom. 

The  hatches  were  next  removed,  when  it  was  found  that  the 
water  in  the  schooner's  hold  had  so  far  lowered,  as  to  leave  p 


1G6  JACK     TIER. 

vacant  space  of  quite  a  foot  between  the  lowest  part  of  the  deck 
and  its  surface.  Towards  the  two  extremities  of  the  vessel  this 
space  necessarily  was  much  increased,  in  consequence  of  the 
sheer.  Men  were  now  sent  into  the  hatchway  with  orders  to 
hook  on  to  the  flour-barrels — a  whip  having  been  rigged  in 
readiness  to  hoist  them  on  deck.  At  the  same  time  gangs  were 
sent  to  the  pumps,  though  Spike  still  depended  for  getting  rid 
of  the  water  somewhat  on  the  auger — the  carpenter  continuing 
to  bore  and  plug  his  holes  as  new  opportunities  offered,  and  the 
old  outlets  became  useless.  It  was  true  this  expedient  would 
soon  cease,  for  the  water  having  found  its  level  in  the  vessel's 
hold,  was  very  nearly  on  a  level  also  with  that  on  the  outside. 
Bailing  also  was  commenced,  both  forward  and  aft. 

Spike's  next  material  advantage  was  obtained  by  means  of  the 
cargo.  By  the  time  the  sun  had  set,  fully  two  hundred  barrels 
had  been  rolled  into  the  hatchway,  and  passed  on  deck,  whence 
about  half  of  them  were  sent  in  the  lighthouse  boat  to  the 
nearest  islet,  and  the  remainder  were  transferred  to  the  deck  of 
the  brig.  These  last  were  placed  on  the  off  side  of  the  Swash, 
and  aided  in  bringing  her  nearer  upright.  A  great  deal  was 
gained  in  getting  rid  of  these  barrels.  The  water  in  the 
schooner  lowered  just  as  much  as  the  space  they  had  occupied, 
and  the  vessel  was  relieved  at  once  of  twenty  tons  in  weight. 

Just  after  the  sun  had  set,  Seiior  Don  Juan  Montefalderon 
and  his  party  returned  on  board.  They  had  staid  on  the  island 
to  the  last  moment,  at  Rose's  request,  for  she  had  taken  as  close 
an  observation  of  every  thing  as  possible,  in  order  to  ascertain 
if  any  means  of  concealment  existed,  in  the  event  of  her  aunt, 
Biddy,  and  herself  quitting  the  brig.  The  islets  were  all  too 
naked  and  too  small,  however ;  and  she  was  compelled  to  return 
l,o  the  Swash,  without  any  hopes  derived  from  this  quarter. 

Spike  had  just  directed  the  people  to  get  their  suppers,  as  the 
Mexican  came  on  board.  Together  they  descended  to  the 
schooner's  deck,  where  they  had  a  long  but  secret  conference. 
Senor  Montefalderon  was   a  calm,  quiet,  and  reasonable  man, 


JACK      TIER.  167 

and  while  he  felt  as  one  would  be  apt  to  feel  who  had  recently 
seen  so  many  associates  swept  suddenly  out  of  existence,  the 
late  catastrophe  did  not  in  the  least  unman  him.  It  is  too 
much  the  habit  of  the  American  people  to  receive  their  impres 
sions  from  newspapers,  which  throw  off  their  articles  unreflect- 
ingly, and  often  ignorantly,  as  crones  in  petticoats  utter  their 
gossip.  In  a  word,  the  opinions  thus  obtained  are  very  much 
on  a  level,  in  value,  with  the  thoughts  of  those  who  are  said  to 
tbink  aloud,  and  who  give  utterance  to  all  the  crudities  and 
trivial  rumors  that  may  happen  to  reach  their  ears.  In  this 
manner,  we  apprehend,  very  false  notions  of  our  neighbors  of 
Mexico  have  become  circulated  among  us.  That  nation  is  a 
mixed  race,  and  has  necessarily  the  various  characteristics  of 
such  an  origin ;  and  it  is,  unfortunately,  little  influenced  by  the 
diffusion  of  intelligence  which  certainly  exists  here.  Although 
an  enemy,  it  ought  to  be  acknowledged,  however,  that  even 
Mexico  has  her  redeeming  points.  Anglo-Saxons  as  we  are,  we 
have  no  desire  unnecessarily  to  illustrate  that  very  marked 
feature  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  character,  which  prompts  the  mother 
stock  to  calumniate  all  who  oppose  it,  but  would  rather  adopt 
some  of  that  chivalrous  courtesy  of  which  so  much  that  is  lofty 
and  commendable  is  to  be  found  among  the  descendants  of  Old 
Spain. 

The  Senor  Montefalderon  was  earnestly  engaged  in  what  he 
conceived  to  be  the  cause  of  his  country.  It  was  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  bring  together  two  men  impelled  by  motives  more  dis- 
tinct than  Spike  and  this  gentleman.  The  first  was  acting 
under  impulses  of  the  lowest  and  most  grovelling  nature  ;  while 
the  last  was  influenced  by  motives  of  the  highest.  However 
much  Mexico  may,  and  has,  weakened  her  cause  by  her  own 
puuic  failh,  instability,  military  oppression,  and  political  revolu- 
tions, giving  to  the  Texans  in  particular  ample  justification  for 
their  revolt,  it  was  not  probable  that  Don  Juan  Montefalderon 
saw  the  force  of  all  the  arguments  that  a  casuist  of  ordinary 
ingenuity  could  certainly  adduce   against  his  country ;  for  it  it 


168  JACK     TIER. 

a  most  unusual  tiling  to  find  a  man  anywhere,  who  is  willing 
to  admit  that  the  positions  of  an  opponent  are  good.  He  saw, 
in  the  events  of  the  day,  a  province  wrested  from  his  nation ; 
and,  in  his  reasoning  on  the  subject,  entirely  overlooking  the 
numerous  occasions  on  which  his  own  fluctuating  government 
had  given  sufficient  justification,  not  to  say  motives,  to  their 
powerful  neighbors,  to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and 
redress  themselves,  he  fancied  all  that  has  occurred  was  pre- 
viously planned  ;  instead  of  regarding  it,  as  it  truly  is,  as  merely 
the  result  of  political  events  that  no  man  could  have  foreseen, 
that  no  man  had  originally  imagined,  or  that  any  man  could 
control. 

Don  Juan  understood  Spike  completely,  and  quite  justly 
appreciated  not  only  his  character,  but  his  capabilities.  Their 
acquaintance  was  not  of  a  day,  though  it  had  ever  been  marked 
by  that  singular  combination  of  caution  and  reliance  that  is  apt 
to  characterize  the  intercourse  between  the  knave  and  the 
honest  man,  when  circumstances  compel  not  only  communica- 
tion, but,  to  a  certain  extent,  confidence.  They  now  paced  the 
deck  of  the  schooner,  side  by  side,  for  fully  an  hour,  during 
which  time  the  price  of  the  vessel,  the  means,  and  the  mode  of 
payment  and  transfer,  were  fully  settled  between  them. 

"  But  what  will  you  do  with  your  passengers,  Don  Esteban  ?" 
asked  the  Mexican,  pleasantly,  when  the  more  material  points 
were  adjusted.  "  I  feel  a  great  interest  in  the  young  lady  in 
particular,  who  is  a  charming  senorita,  and  who  tells  me  that 
her  aunt  brought  her  this  voyage  on  account  of  her  health.  She 
looks  much  too  blooming  to  be  out  of  health ;  and  if  she  were, 
this  is  a  singular  voyage  for  an  invalid  to  make  !" 

"  You  don't  understand  human  natur'  yet,  altogether,  I  see, 
Don  Wan,"  answered  Spike,  chuckling  and  winking.  "  As  you 
and  I  are  not  only  good  friends,  but  what  a  body  may  call  old 
friends,  Til  let  you  into  a  secret  in  this  affair,  well  knowing  that 
you'll  not  betray  it.  It's  quite  true  that  the  old  woman  thinks 
her  niece  is  a  pulmonary,  as  they  call  it,  and  that  this  v'y'ge  is 


JACK     TIER.  109 

recommended  for  her,  but  the  gal  is  as  healthy  as  she's  hand- 
som'." 

"  Her  constitution,  then,  must  be  very  excellent,  for  it  is  sel- 
dom I  have  seen  so  charming  a  young  woman.  But  if  the  aunt 
is  misled  in  this  matter,  how  has  it  been  with  the  niece  ?" 

Spike  did  not  answer  in  words,  but  he  leered  upon  his  com- 
panion, aud  he  winked. 

"  You  mean  to  be  understood  that  you  are  in  intelligence 
with  each  other,  I  suppose,  Don  Esteban  ?"  returned  Sefior  Mon- 
tefalderon,  who  did  not  like  the  captain's  manner,  and  was 
willing  to  drop  the  discourse. 

Spike  then  informed  his  companion,  in  confidence,  that  he 
and  Rose  were  affianced,  though  without  the  aunt's  knowledge  ; 
that  he  intended  to  marry  the  niece  the  moment  he  reached  a 
Mexican  port  with  the  brig,  and  that  it  was  their  joint  intention 
to  settle  in  the  country.  lie  added,  that  the  affair  required 
management,  as  his  intended  had  property,  and  expected  more, 
and  he  begged  Don  Juan  to  aid  him,  as  things  drew  near  to  a 
crisis.  The  Mexican  evaded  an  answer,  and  the  discourse 
dropped. 

The  moon  was  now  shining,  and  would  continue  to  throw  its 
pale  light  over  the  scene  for  two  or  three  hours  longer.  Spike 
profited  by  the  circumstance  to  continue  the  work  of  lightening 
the  schooner.  One  of  the  first  things  done  next  was  to  get  up 
the  dead,  and  to  remove  them  to  the  boat.  This  melancholy 
office  occupied  an  hour,  the  bodies  being  landed  on  the  islet, 
near  the  powder,  and  there  interred  in  the  sands.  Don  Juan 
Montefalderon  attended  on  this  occasion,  and  repeated  some 
prayers  over  the  graves,  as  he  had  done  in  the  morning,  in  the 
cases  of  the  two  who  had  been  buried  near  the  lighthouse. 

"While  this  melancholy  duty  was  in  the  course  of  performance, 
that  of  pumping  and  bailing  was  continued,  under  the  imme- 
diate personal  superintendence  of  Mulford.  It  would  not  be  easy 
to  define,  with  perfect  clearness,  the  conflicting  feelings  by  which 
the  mate  of  the  Swash  was  now  impelled..    He  had  no  longer 

8 


110 


JACK     TIER. 


any  doubt  on  the  subject  of  Spike's  treason ;  and  bad  it  not 
been  for  Rose,  be  would  not  bave  hesitated  a  moment  about 
making  off  in  the  lighthouse  boat  for  Key  West,  in  order  to 
report  all  that  had  passed  to  the  authorities.  But  not  only 
Kose  was  there,  and  to  be  cared  for,  but  what  was  far  more  diffi- 
cult to  get  along  with,  her  aunt  was  with  her.  It  is  true,  Mrs. 
Budd  was  no  longer  Spike's  dupe  ;  but,  under  any  circumstances, 
she  was  a  difficult  subject  to  manage,  and  most  especially  so  in 
all  matters  that  related  to  the  sea.  Then  the  young  man  sub- 
mitted, more  or  less,  to  the  strange  influence  which  a  fine  craft 
almost  invariably  obtains  over  those  that  belong  to  her.  He 
did  not  like  the  idea  of  deserting  the  Swash,  at  the  very  moment 
he  would  not  have  hesitated  about  punishing  her  owner  for  his 
many  misdeeds.  In  a  word,  Harry  was  too  much  of  a  tar  not 
to  feel  a  deep  reluctance  to  turn  against  his  cruise,  or  his  voyage, 
however  much  either  might  be  condemned  by  his  judgment. 
or  even  by  his  principles. 

It  was  quite  nine  o'clock  when  the  Senor  Montefalderon  and 
Spike  returned  from  burying  the  dead.  No  sooner  did  the  last 
put  his  foot  on  the  deck  of  his  own  vessel,  than  he  felt  the  fall 
of  one  of  the  purchases  which  had  been  employed  in  raising 
the  schooner.  It  was  so  far  slack  as  to  satisfy  him  that  the 
latter  now  floated  by  her  own  buoyancy,  though  it  might  be 
well  to  let  all  stand  until  morning,  for  the  purposes  of  security. 
Thus  apprised  of  the  condition  of  the  two  vessels,  he  gave  the 
welcome  order  to  "  knock  off  for  the  night." 


JACK     TIER, 


m 


CHAPTER    VI, 


"At  the  piping  of  all  hands, 
"When  the  judgment  signal's  spread- 
When  the  islands  and  the  land, 
And  the  seas  give  up  their  dead. 
And  the  south  and  the  north  shall  ccme; 
When  the  sinner  is  dismayed, 
And  the  just  man  is  afraid, 
Then  heaven  he  thy  aid, 
Poor  Tom." 

Beainaed. 


The  people  had  now  a  cessation  from  their  toil.  Of  all  the 
labor  known  to  seafaring  men,  that  of  pumping  is  usually 
thought  to  be  the  most  severe.  Those  who  work  at  it  have  to 
be  relieved  every  minute,  and  it  is  only  by  having  gangs  to 
succeed  each  other,  that  the  duty  can  be  done  at  all  with  any 
thing  like  steadiness.  In  the  present  instance,  it  is  true  that 
the  people  of  the  Swash  were  sustained  by  the  love  of  gold, 
but  glad  enough  were  they  when  Mulford  called  out  to  them  to 
"  knock  off,  and  turn  in  for  the  night."  It  was  high  time  this 
summons  should  be  made,  for  not  only  were  the  people  exces- 
sively wearied,  but  the  customary  hours  of  labor  were  so  far 
spent,  that  the  light  of  the  moon  had  some  time  before  begun 
to  blend  with  the  little  left  by  the  parting  sun.  Glad  enough 
were  all  hands  to  quit  the  toil ;  and  two  minutes  wrere  scarcely 
elapsed  ere  most  of  the  crew  had  thrown  themselves  down,  and 
were  buried  in  deep  sleep.  Even  Spike  and  Mulford  took  the 
rest  they  needed,  the  cook  alone  being  left  to  look  out  for  the 
changes  in  the  weather.  In  a  word,  everybody  but  this  idler 
was  exhausted  with  pumping  and  bailing,  and  even  gold  had 
lost  its  power  to  charm,  until  nature  was  recruited  by  rest. 

The  excitement  produced  by  the  scenes  through  which  they 


1*72  JACK     TIE  K. 

had  so  lately  passed,  caused  the  females  to  sleep  soundly,  too. 
The  deathlike  stillness  which  pervaded  the  vessel  contributed  to 
their  rest,  and  Rose  never  woke,  from  the  first  few  minutes  after 
her  head  was  on  her  pillow,  until  near  four  in  the  morning. 
The  deep  quiet  seemed  ominous  to  one  who  had  so  lately  wit- 
nessed the  calm  which  precedes  the  tornado,  and  she  arose.  In 
that  low  latitude  and  warm  season,  few  clothes  were  necessary, 
and  our  heroine  was  on  deck  in  a  very  few  minutes.  Here  she 
found  the  same  gravelike  sleep  pervading  every  thing.  There 
was  not  a  breath  of  air,  and  the  ocean  seemed  to  be  in  one  of 
its  profoundest  slumbers.  The  hard  breathing  of  Spike  could 
be  heard  through  the  open  windows  of  his  stateroom,  and  this 
was  positively  the  only  sound  that  was  audible.  The  common 
men,  who  lay  scattered  about  the  decks,  more  especially  from 
the  mainmast  forward,  seemed  to  be  so  many  logs,  and  from 
Mul ford  no  breathing  was  heard. 

The  morning  was  neither  very  dark  nor  very  light,  it  being 
easy  to  distinguish  objects  that  were  near,  while  those  at  a  dis- 
tance were  necessarily  lost  in  obscurity.  Availing  herself  of  the 
circumstance,  Rose  went  as  far  as  the  gangwTay,  to  ascertain  if 
the  cook  were  at  his  post.  She  saw  him  lying  near  his  galley, 
in  as  profound  a  sleep  as  any  of  the  crew.  This  she  felt  to 
be  wrong,  and  she  felt  alarmed,  though  she  knew  not  why. 
Perhaps  it  was  the  consciousness  of  being  the  only  person  up 
and  awake  at  that  hour  of  deepest  night,  in  a  vessel  so  situ- 
ated as  the  Swash,  and  in  a  climate  in  which  hurricanes  seem 
to  be  the  natural  offspring  of  the  air.  Some  one  must  be 
aroused,  and  her  tastes,  feelings,  and  judgment  all  pointed  to 
Harry  Mulford  as  the  person  she  ought  to  awaken.  He  slept 
habitually  in  his  clothes — the  lightest  summer  dress  of  the 
tropics ;  and  the  window  of  his  little  stateroom  was  always 
open  for  the  admission  of  air.  Moving  lightly  to  the  place, 
Rose  laid  her  own  little,  soft  hand  on  the  arm  of  the  young 
man,  when  the  latter  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant.  A  single 
moment  only  was  necessary  to  regain  his  consciousness,  when 


JACK      TIER.  173 

Mulford  left  the  stateroom  and  joined  Rose  on  the  quarter- 
deck. 

"  Why  am  I  called,  Rose,"  the  young  man  asked,  attemper- 
ing his  voice  to  the  calm  that  reigned  around  him  ;  "  and  why 
am  I  called  by  you  rf 

Rose  explained  the  state  of  the  brig,  and  the  feeling  which 
induced  her  to  awaken  him.  With  woman's  gentleness  she 
now  expressed  her  regret  for  having  robbed  Harry  of  his  rest : 
had  she  reflected  a  moment,  she  might  have  kept  watch  her- 
self, and  allowed  him  to  obtain  the  sleep  he  must  surely  so 
much  require. 

But  Mulford  laughed  at  this  ;  protested  he  had  never  been 
awakened  at  a  more  favorable  moment,  and  would  have  sworn, 
had  it  been  proper,  that  a  minute's  further  sleep  would  have 
been  too  much  for  him.  After  these  first  explanations,  Mul- 
ford walked  round  the  decks,  carefully  felt  how  much  strain 
there  was  on  the  purchases,  and  rejoined  Rose  to  report  that 
all  was  right,  and  that  he  did  not  consider  it  necessary  to  call 
even  the  cook.  The  black  was  an  idler  in  no  sense  but  that 
of  keeping  watch,  and  he  had  toiled  the  past  day  as  much  as 
any  of  the  men,  though  it  was  not  exactly  at  the  pumps. 

A  long  and  semi-confidential  conversation  now  occurred 
between  Harry  and  Rose.  They  talked  of  Spike,  the  brig,  and 
her  cargo,  and  of  the  delusion  of  the  captain's  widow.  It  was 
scarcely  possible  that  powder  should  be  so  much  wanted  at 
the  Havana  as  to  render  smuggling,  at  so  much  cost,  a  profit- 
able adventure  ;  and  Mulford  admitted  his  convictions  that  the 
pretended  flour  was  originally  intended  for  Mexico.  Rose 
related  the  tenor  of  the  conversation  she  had  overheard  be- 
tween the  two  parties,  Don  Juan  and  Don  Esteban,  and  the 
mate  no  longer  doubted  that  it  was  Spike's  intention  to  sell 
the  brig  to  the  enemy.  She  also  alluded  to  what  had  passed 
between  herself  and  the  stranger. 

Mulford  took  this  occasion  to  introduce  the  subject  of  Jack 
Tier's  intimacy  and  favor  with  Rose.     He  even  professed  to 


174  JACK     TIER. 

feel  some  jealousy  on  account  of  it,  little  as  there  might  be  to 
alarm  most  men  in  the  rivalry  of  such  a  competitor.  Rose 
laughed,  as  girls  "will  laugh  when  there  is  question  of  their 
power  over  the  other  sex,  and  she  fairly  shook  her  rich  tresses 
as  she  declared  her  determination  to  continue  to  smile  on 
Jack  to  the  close  of  the  voyage.  Then,  as  if  she  had  said 
more  than  she  intended,  she  added,  with  woman's  generosity 
and  tenderness — 

"  After  all,  Harry,  you  know  how  much  I  promised  to  you 
even  before  we  sailed,  and  how  much  more  since,  and  have  no 
just  .cause  to  dread  even  Jack.  There  is  another  reason,  how 
ever,  that  ought  to  set  your  mind  entirely  at  ease  on  his 
account.  Jack  is  married,  and  has  a  partner  living  at  this 
very  moment,  as  he  does  not  scruple  to  avow  himself." 

A  hissing  noise,  a  bright  light,  and  a  slight  explosion,  inter- 
rupted the  half-laughing  girl,  and  Mulford,  turning  on  his  heel, 
quick  as  thought,  saw  that  a  rocket  had  shot  into  the  air,  from 
a  point  close  under  the  bows  of  the  brig.  He  was  still  in  the 
act  of  moving  towards  the  forecastle,  when,  at  the  distance  of 
several  leagues,  he  saw  the  explosion  of  another  rocket  high 
in  the  air.  He  knew  enough  of  the  practices  of  vessels  of  war, 
to  feel  certain  that  these  were  a  signal  and  its  answer  from 
some  one  in  the  service  of  government.  Not  at  all  sorry  to 
have  the  career  of  the  Swash  arrested,  before  she  could  pass 
into  hostile  hands,  or  before  evil  could  befall  Rose,  Mulford 
reached  the  forecastle  just  in  time  to  answer  the  inquiry  that 
was  immediately  put  to  him  in  the  way  of  a  hail.  A  gig,  pull- 
ing four  oars  only,  with  two  officers  in  its  stern-sheets,  was  fairly 
under  the  vessel's  bows,  and  the  mate  could  almost  distinguish 
the  countenance  of  the  officer  who  questioned  him,  the  instant 
he  showed  his  head  and  shoulders  above  the  bulwarks. 

"  What  vessels  are  these  ?"  demanded  the  stranger,  speaking 
in  the  authoritative  manner  of  one  who  acted  for  the  State, 
but  not  speaking  much  above  the  usual  conversational  tone. 

"American  and  Spanish,"  was  the  answer.     "This  brig  is 


JACK     TIER.  175 

American — the  schooner  alongside  is  a  Spaniard,  that  turned 
turtle  in  a  tornado,  about  six-and-thirty  hours  since,  and  on 
which  we  have  been  hard  at  work  trying  to  raise  her,  since 
the  gale  which  succeeded  the  tornado  has  blown  its  pipe  out." 

"  Ay,  ay,  that's  the  story,  is  it  ?  I  did  not  know  what  to 
make  of  you,  lying  cheek  by  jowl,  in  this  fashion.  Was  any- 
body lost  on  board  the  schooner  ?" 

"All  hands,  including  every  soul  aft  and  forward,  the  super- 
cargo excepted,  who  happened  to  be  aboard  here.  We  buried 
seventeen  of  the  bodies  this  afternoon  on  the  smallest  of  the 
Keys  that  you  see  near  at  hand,  and  two  this  morning  along- 
side of  the  light.  But  what  boat  is  that,  and  where  are  you 
from,  and  whom  are  you  signalling  V 

"The  boat  is  a  gig,"  answered  the  stranger,  deliberately, 
"  and  she  belongs  to  a  cruiser  of  Uncle  Sam's,  that  is  off  the 
reef,  a  short  bit  to  the  eastward,  and  we  signalled  our  captain. 
But  I'll  come  on  board  you,  sir,  if  you  please." 

Mulford  walked  aft  to  meet  the  stranger  at  the  gangway, 
and  was  relieved,  rather  than  otherwise,  at  finding  that  Spike 
was  already  on  the  quarter-deck.  Should  the  vessel  of  war 
seize  the  brig,  he  could  rejoice  at  it ;  but  so  strong  were  his 
professional  ideas  of  duty  to  the  craft  he  sailed  in,  that  he  did 
not  find  it  in  'his  heart  to  say  aught  against  her.  Were  any 
mishap  to  befall  it,  or  were  justice  to  be  done,  he  preferred 
that  it  might  be  done  under  Spike's  own  supervision,  rather 
than  under  his. 

"  Call  all  hands,  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  Spike,  as  they  met.  "  I 
see  a  streak  of  day  coming  yonder  in  the  east — let  all  hands  be 
called  at  once.    What  strange  boat  is  this  we  have  alongside  ?" 

This  question  was  put  to  the  strangers,  Spike  standing  on 
his  gangway-ladder  to  ask  it,  while  the  mate  was  summoning 
the  crew.  The  officer  saw  that  a  new  person  was  to  be  dealt 
with,  and  in  his  quiet,  easy  way,  he  answered,  while  stretch- 
ing out  his  hands  to  take  the  man-rope — 

"  Your  servant,  sir — we  are  man-of-war's  men,  belonging  tc 


176  JACK     TIER. 

one  of  Uncle  Sam's  craft,  outside,  and  have  just  come  in  to 
pay  you  a  visit  of  ceremony.  I  told  one,  whom  I  suppose  was 
your  mate,  that  I  would  just  step  on  board  of  you." 

"  Ay,  ay — one  at  a  time,  if  you  please.  It's  war-time,  and 
I  cannot  suffer  armed  boat's  crews  to  board  me  at  night,  with- 
out knowing  something  about  them.  Come  up  yourself,  if 
you  please,  but  order  your  people  to  stay  in  the  boat.  Here, 
muster  about  this  gangway,  half  a  dozen  of  you,  and  keep  an 
eye  on  the  crew  of  this  strange  boat." 

These  orders  had  no  effect  on  the  cool  and  deliberate  lieu- 
tenant, who  ascended  the  brig's  side,  and  immediately  stood 
on  her  deck.  No  sooner  had  he  and  Spike  confronted  each 
other,  than  each  gave  a  little  start,  like  that  of  recognition, 
and  the  lieutenant  spoke. 

"Ay,  ay — I  believe  I  know  this  vessel  now.  It  is  the  Molly 
Swash,  of  New  York,  bound  to  Key  West,  and  a  market ;  and 
I  have  the  honor  to  see  Captain  Stephen  Spike  again." 

It  was  Mr.  Wallace,  the  second  lieutenant  of  the  sloop-of- 
war  that  had  boarded  the  brig  in  the  Mona  Passage,  and  to 
avoid  whom  Spike  had  gone  to  the  southward  of  Jamaica. 
The  meeting  was  very  mal-a-propos,  but  it  would  not  do  to 
betray  that  the  captain  and  owner  of  the  vessel  thought  as 
much  as  this;  on  the  contrary,  Wallace  was 'warmly  wel- 
comed, and  received,  not  only  as  an  old  acquaintance,  but  as 
a  very  agreeable  visitor.  To  have  seen  the  two  as  they  walked 
aft  together,  one  might  have  supposed  that  the  meeting  was 
conducive  of  nothing  but  a  very  mutual  satisfaction,  it  was  so 
much  like  that  which  happens  between  those  who  keep  up  a 
hearty  acquaintance. 

"Well,  I'm  glad  to  see  you  again,  Captain  Spike,"  cried 
Wallace,  after  the  greetings  were  passed,  "  if  it  be  only  to  ask 
where  you  flew  to,  the  day  we  left  you  in  the  Mona  Passage  ? 
We  looked  out  for  you  with  all  our  eyes,  expecting  you  would 
be  down  between  San  Domingo  and  Jamaica,  but  I  hardly 
think  you  got  by  us  in  the  night.     Our  master  thinks  you 


JACK     TIER.  177 

must  have  dove,  and  gone  past  loon-fashion.  Do  you  ever 
perform  that  manoeuvre  V 

"  No,  we've  kept  above  water  the  whole  time,  lieutenant," 
answered  Spike,  heartily ;  "  and  that  is  more  than  can  be  said 
of  the  poor  fellow  alongside  of  us.  I  was  so  much  afraid  of 
the  Isle  of  Pines,  that  I  went  round  Jamaica." 

"You  might  have  given  the  Isle  of  Pines  a  berth,  and  still 
have  passed  to  the  north  of  the  Englishmen,"  said  Wallace,  a 
little  drily.  "However,  that  island  is  somewhat  of  a  scare- 
crow, and  we  have  been  to  take  a  look  at  it  ourselves.  All's 
right  there,  just  now.  But  you  seem  light ;  what  have  you 
done  with  your  flour  ?" 

"  Parted  with  every  barrel  of  it.  You  may  remember  I  was 
bound  to  Key  West,  and  a  market.  Well,  I  found  my  mar- 
ket here,  in  American  waters." 

"You  have  been  lucky,  sir.  This  'emporium'  does  not 
seem  to  be  exactly  a  commercial  emporium." 

"  The  fact  is,  the  flour  is  intended  for  the  Havana ;  and  I 
fancy  it  is  to  be  shipped  for  slavers.  But  I  am  to  know  noth- 
ing of  all  that,  you'll  understand,  lieutenant.  If  I  sell  my  flour 
in  American  waters,  at  two  prices,  it's  no  concern  of  mine  what 
becomes  of  it  a'terwards." 

"Unless  it  happen  to  pass  into  enemy's  hands,  certainly 
not;  and  you  are  too  patriotic  to  deal  with  Mexico,  just  now, 
I'm  sure.  Pray,  did  that  flour  go  down  when  the  schooner 
turned  turtle  ?" 

"  Every  barrel  of  it ;  but  Don  Wan,  below  there,  thinks  that 
most  of  it  may  yet  be  saved,  by  landing  it  on  one  of  those 
Keys  to  dry.  Flour,  well  packed,  wets  in  slowly.  You  see  we 
have  some  of  it  on  deck." 

"  And  who  may  Don  Wan  be,  sir,  pray  ?  We  are  sent  here 
to  look  after  Dons  and  Donas,  you  know." 

"  Don  Wan  is  a  Cuban  merchant,  and  deals  in  such  articles 
as  he  wants.  I  fell  in  with  him  among  the  reefs  here,  where 
he  was  rummaging  about  in  hopes  of  meeting  with  a  wrack,  he 


178  JACK    TIER. 

tells  ine,  and  thinking  to  purchase  something  profitable  in  that 
way  ;  but  finding  I  had  flour,  he  agreed  to  take  it  out  of  me 
at  this  anchorage,  and  send  me  away  in  ballast  at  once.  I 
have  found  Don  Wan  Montefalderon  ready  to  pay,  and  very 
honorable." 

Wallace  then  requested  an  explanation  of  the  disaster,  to 
the  details  of  which  he  listened  with  a  sailor's  interest.  lie 
asked  a  great  many  questions,  all  of  which  bore  on  the  more 
nautical  features  of  the  event*;  and,  day  having  now  fairly  ap- 
peared, he  examined  the  purchases  and  backings  of  the  Swash 
with  professional  nicety.  The  schooner  was  no  lower  in  the 
water  than  when  the  men  had  knocked  off  work  the  previous 
night ;  and  Spike  set  the  people  at  the  pumps  and  their  bailing 
again,  as  the  most  effectual  method  of  preventing  their  making 
any  indiscreet  communications  to  the  man-of-war's  men. 

About  this  time  the  relict  appeared  on  deck,  when  Spike 
gallantly  introduced  the  lieutenant  anew  to  his  passengers. 
It  is  true  he  knew  no  name  to  use,  but  that  was  of  little  mo- 
ment, as  he  called  the  officer  "  the  lieutenant,"  and  nothing  else. 

Mrs.  Budd  was  delighted  with  this  occasion  to  show  off,  and 
she  soon  broke  out  on  the  easy,  indolent,  but  waggish  Wallace, 
in  a  strain  to  surprise  him,  notwithstanding  the  specimen  of 
the  lady's  skill  from  which  he  had  formerly  escaped. 

"  Captain  Spike  is  of  opinion,  lieutenant,  that  our  cast- 
anchor  here  is  excellent,  and  I  know  the  value  of  a  good  cast- 
anchor  place  ;  for  my  poor  Mr.  Budd  was  a  seafaring  man, 
and  taught  me  almost  as  much  of  your  noble  profession  as  he 
knew  himself." 

"And  he  taught  you,  ma'am,"  said  Wallace,  fairly  opening 
his  eyes,  under  the  influence  of  astonishment,  "  to  be  very  par- 
ticular about  cast-anchor  places !" 

"  Indeed  he  did.  He  used  to  say,  that  roads-instead  were 
never  as  good,  for  such  purposes,  as  land  that's  locked  havens, 
for  the  anchors  would  return  home,  as  he  called  it,  in  roads- 
instead." 


JACK     TIER.  179 

"Yes,  ma'am,"  answered  Wallace,  looking  very  queer  at 
first,  as  if  disposed  to  laugh  outright,  then  catching  a  glance 
of  Rose,  and  changing  his  mind  ;  "I  perceive  that  M*.  Budd. 
knew  what  he  was  about,  and  preferred  an  anchorage  where 
he  was  well  land-locked,  and  where  there  was  no  danger  of  his 
anchors  coming  home,  as  so  often  happens  in  your  open  road- 
steads." 

"Yes,  that's  just  it !  That  was  just  his  notion!  You  can- 
not feel  how  delightful  it  is,  Rose,  to  converse  with  one  that 
thoroughly  understands  such  subjects  !  My  poor  Mr.  Budd 
did,  indeed,  denounce  roads-instead,  at  all  times  calling  them 
'  savage.1 " 

"Savage,  aunt !"  put  in  Rose,  hoping  to  stop  the  good  relict 
by  her  own  interposition — "  that  is  a  strange  word  to  apply  to 
an  anchorage !" 

"Not  at  all,  young  lady,"  said  Wallace,  gravely.  "They 
are  often  wild  berths,  and  wild  berths  are  not  essentially 
different  from  wild  beasts.  Each  is  savage,  as  a  matter  oi 
course." 

"I  knew  I  was  right!"  exclaimed  the  widow.  "Savage  cast- 
anchors  come  of  wild  births,  as  do  savage  Indians.  Oil  !  the 
language  of  the  ocean,  as  my  poor  Mr.  Budd  used  to  say,  is 
eloquence  tempered  by  common  sense  !" 

Wallace  stared  again,  but  his  attention  was  called  to  other 
things,  just  at  that  moment.  The  appearance  of  Don  Juan 
Montefalderon  y  Castro  on  deck,  reminded  him  of  his  duty, 
and  approaching  that  gentleman,  he  condoled  with  him  on  the 
grave  loss  he  had  sustained.  After  a  few  civil  expressions  on 
both  sides,  Wallace  made  a  delicate  allusion  to  the  character 
of  the  schooner. 

"  Under  other  circumstances,"  he  said,  "  it  might  be  my 
duty  to  inquire  a  little  particularly  as  to  the  nationality  of  your 
vessel,  Senor,  for  we  are  at  war  with  the  Mexicans,  as  you 
doubtless  know." 

"  Certainly,"  answered  Don  Juan,  with  an  unmoved  air  and 


180  JACK     T1EK. 

great  politeness  of  manner,  "  though  it  would  be  out  of  my 
power  to  satisfy  you.  Every  thing  was  lost  in  the  schooner, 
and  I  have  not  a  paper  of  any  sort  to  show  you.  If  it  be 
your  pleasure  to  make  a  prize  of  a  vessel  in  this  situation,  cer- 
tainly it  is  in  your  power  to  do  it.  A  few  barrels  of  wet  flour 
are  scarce  worth  disputing  about." 

Wallace  now  seemed  a  little  ashamed,  the  sang  fro'id  of  the 
other  throwing  dust  in  his  eyes,  and  he  was  in  a  hurry  to 
change  the  subject.  Senor  Don  Juan  was  very  civilly  con- 
doled with  again,  and  he  was  made  to  repeat  the  incidents  of 
the  loss,  as  if  his  auditor  took  a  deep  interest  in  what  he  said, 
but  no  further  hint  was  given  touching  the  nationality  of  the 
vessel.  The  lieutenant's  tact  let  him  see  that  Senor  Montefal- 
deron  was  a  person  of  very  different  calibre  from  Spike,  as  well 
as  of  different  habits  ;  and  he  did  not  choose  to  indulge  in  the 
quiet  irony  that  formed  so  large  an  ingredient  in  his  own  char- 
acter, with  this  new  acquaintance.  lie  spoke  Spanish  himself, 
with  tolerable  fluency,  and  a  conversation  now  occurred  be- 
tween the  two,  which  was  maintained  for  some  time  with 
spirit  and  a  very  manifest  courtesy. 

This  dialogue  between  Wallace  and  the  Spaniard  gave 
Spike  a  little  leisure  for  reflection.  As  the  day  advanced  the 
cruiser  came  more  and  more  plainly  in  view,  and  his  first  busi- 
ness was  to  take  a  good  survey  of  her.  She  might  have  been 
three  leagues  distant,  but  approaching  with  a  very  light  breeze, 
at  the  rate  of  something  less  than  two  knots  in  the  hour. 
Unless  there  was  some  one  on  board  her  who  was  acquainted 
with  the  channels  of  the  Dry  Tortugas,  Spike  felt  little  appre- 
hension of  the  ship's  getting  very  near  to  him ;  but  he  very 
well  understood  that,  with  the  sort  of  artillery  that  was  ir 
modern  use  among  vessels  of  war,  he  would  hardly  be  safe 
could  the  cruiser  get  within  a  league.  That  near  Uncle  Sam's 
.u-aft  might  certainly  come  without  encountering  the  hazards 
of  the  channels,  and  within  that  distance  she  would  be  likely 
to  get  in  the  course  of  the  morning,  should  ho.  have  the  com- 


JACK     TIER.  181 

plaisance  to  wait  for  her.  lie  determined,  therefore,  not  to  he 
guilty  of  that  act  of  folly. 

All  this  time  the  business  of  lightening  the  schooner  pro- 
ceeded. Although  Mulford  earnestly  wished  that  the  man-of- 
war  might  get  an  accurate  notion  of  the  true  character  and 
objects  of  the  brig,  he  could  not  prevail  on  himself  to  become 
an  informer.  In  order  to  avoid  the  temptation  so  to  do,  he 
exerted  himself  in  keeping  the  men  at  their  tasks,  and  never 
before  had  pumping  and  bailing  been  carried  on  with  more 
spirit.  The  schooner  soon  floated  of  herself,  and  the  pur- 
chases which  led  to  the  Swash  were  removed.  Near  a  hun- 
dred more  barrels  of  the  flour  had  been  taken  out  of  the  hold 
of  the  Spanish  craft,  and  had  been  struck  on  the  deck  of  the 
brig,  or  sent  to  the  Key  by  means  of  the  boats.  This  made  a 
material  change  in  the  buoyancy  of  the  vessel,  and  enabled 
the  bailing  to  go  on  with  greater  facility.  The  pumps  were 
never  idle,  but  two  small  streams  of  water  were  running  the 
whole  of  the  time  towards  the  scuppers,  and  through  them 
into  the  sea. 

At  length  the  men  were  ordered  to  knock  off,  and  to  get 
their  breakfasts.  This  appeared  to  arouse  Wallace,  who  had 
been  chatting,  quite  agreeably  to  himself,  with  Rose,  and 
seemed  reluctant  to  depart,  but  who  now  became  sensible  that 
he  was  neglecting  his  duty.  lie  called  away  his  boat's  crew, 
and  took  a  civil  leave  of  the  passengers  ;  after  which  he  went 
over  the  side.  The  gig  was  some  little  distance  from  the 
Swash,  when  Wallace  rose  and  asked  to  see  Spike,  with  whom 
he  had  a  word  to  say  at  parting. 

"  I  will  soon  return,"  he  said,  "  and  bring  you  forty  or  fifty 
fresh  men,  who  will  make  light  work  with  your  wreck.  I  am 
certain  our  commander  will  consent  to  my  doing  so,  and  will 
gladly  send  on  board  you  two  or  ihree  boat's  crews." 

"  If  I'll  let  him,"  muttered  Spike  between  his  teeth,  "  I  shall 
be  a  poor,  miserable  cast-anchor  devil,  that's  all." 

To  Wallace,  however,  he  expressed  his  hearty  acknowledge 


182  JACK     TIER. 

ments ;  begged  kim  not  to  be  in  a  hurry,  as  the  worst  was  now 
over,  and  the  row  was  still  a  long  one.  If  he  got  back  towards 
evening  it  would  be  all  in  good  time.  Wallace  waved  his  hand, 
and  the  gig  glided  away.  As  for  Spike,  he  sat  down  on  the 
plank-sheer  where  he  had  stood,  and  remained  there  ruminating 
intently  for  two  or  three  minutes.  When  he  descended  to  the 
deck  his  mind  was  fully  made  up.  His  first  act  was  to  give 
some  private  orders  to  the  boatswain,  after  which  he  withdrew 
to  the  cabin,  whither  he  summoned  Tier,  without  delay. 

"Jack,"  commenced  the  captain,  using  very  little  circumlo- 
cution in  opening  his  mind,  "  you  and  I  are  old  shipmates,  and 
ought  to  be  old  friends,  though  I  think  your  natur'  has  under- 
gone some  changes  since  we  last  met.  Twenty  years  ago  there 
was  no  man  in  the  ship  on  whom  I  could  so  certainly  depend 
as  on  Jack  Tier ;  now,  you  seem  given  up  altogether  to  the 
women.     Your  mind  has  changed  even  more  than  your  body." 

"  Time  does  that  for  all  of  us,  Captain  Spike,"  returned  Tier 
coolly.  "  I  am  not  what  I  used  to  be,  I'll  own,  nor  are  you 
yourself,  for  that  matter.  When  I  saw  you  last,  noble  captain, 
you  were  a  handsome  man  of  forty,  and  could  go  aloft  with  any 
youngster  in  the  brig ;  but,  now,  you're  heavy,  and  not  over- 
active." 

"  I !-  -Not  a  bit  of  change  has  taken  place  in  me  for  the  last 
thirty  years.  I  defy  any  man  to  show  to  the  contrary.  But 
that's  neither  here  nor  there  ;  you  are  no  young  woman,  Jack, 
that  I  need  be  boasting  of  my  health  and  beauty  before  you.  I 
want  a  bit  of  real  sarvice  from  you,  and  want  it  done  in  old- 
times  fashion  ;  and  I  mean  to  pay  for  it  in  old-times  fashion, 
too." 

As  Spike  concluded,  he  put  into  Tier's  hand  one  of  the 
doubloons  that  he  had  received  from  Senor  Montefalderon,  in 
payment  for  the  powder.  The  doubloons,  for  which  so  much 
pumping  and  bailing  were  then  in  process,  were  still  beneath 
the  waters  of  the  gulf. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  returned  Jack,  smiling  and  pocketing  the  gok^ 


JACK     TIER.  18D 

with  a  wink  of  the  eye  and  a  knowing  look  ;  "  this  does  lesem- 
ble  old  times  sum' at.  I  now  begin  to  know  Captain  Spike,  my 
old  commander,  again,  and  see  that  he's  more  likehimself  than 
I  had  just  thought  him.  What  am  I  to  do  for  this,  sir  ?  Speak 
plain,  that  I  may  be  sartain  to  steer  the  true  course." 

"  Oh,  just  a  trifle,  Jack — nothing  that  will  break  up  the 
ground-tier  of  your  wits,  my  old  shipmate.  You  see  the  state 
of  the  brig,  and  know  that  she  is  in  no  condition  for  ladies." 

"  'Twould  have  been  better  all  round,  sir,  had  they  never 
come  aboard  at  all,"  answered  Jack,  looking  dark. 

Spike  was  surprised,  but  he  was  too  much  bent  on  his  pro- 
iects  to  heed  trifles. 

"  You  know  what  sort  of  flour  they're  whipping  out  of  the 
schooner,  and  must  understand  that  the  brig  will  soon  be  in  a 
pretty  litter.  I  do  not  intend  to  let  them  send  a  single  barrel 
of  it  beneath  my  hatches  again,  hut  the  deck  and  the  islands 
must  take  it  all.  Now  I  wish  to  relieve  my  passengers  from  the 
confinement  this  will  occasion,  and  I  have  ordered  the  boatswain 
to  pitch  a  tent  for  them  on  the  largest  of  these  here  Tortugas  ; 
and  what  I  w7ant  of  you,  is  to  muster  food  and  water,  and  other 
women's  knicknacks,  and  go  ashore  with  them,  and  make  them 
as  comfortable  as  you  can  for  a  few  days,  or  until  we  can  get 
this  schooner  loaded  and  off." 

Jack  Tier  looked  at  his  commander  as  if  he  would  penetrate 
his  most  secret  thoughts.  A  short  pause  succeeded,  during 
which  the  steward's  mate  w7as  intently  musing,  then  his  counte- 
nance suddenly  brightened ;  he  gave  the  doubloon  a  fillip,  and 
caught  it  on  the  palm  of  his  hand  as  it  descended,  and  he 
uttered  the  customary  "  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  with  apparent  cheerfulness. 
Nothing  more  passed  between  these  two  worthies,  who  now 
parted,  Jack  to  make  his  arrangements,  and  Spike  to  "  tell  his 
yarn,"  as  he  termed  the  operation  in  his  owTn  mind,  to  Mrs. 
Budd,  Rose,  and  Biddy.  The  widow  listened  complacent/y, 
though  she  seemed  half  doubting,  half  ready  to  comply.  As 
or  Rose,  she  received  the  proposal  with  delight — the  confine- 


184  JACK     TIE  U. 

ment  of  the  vessel  having  become  irksome  to  her.  The  princi- 
pal obstacle  was  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  made  by  the 
aunt,  Biddy  appearing  to  like  the  notion  quite  as  much  as 
"  Miss  Rosy."  As  for  the  lighthouse,  Mrs.  Budd  had  declared 
nothing  would  induce  her  to  go  there  ;  for  she  did  not  doubt 
the  place  would  soon  be,  if  it  were  not  already,  haunted.  In 
this  opinion  she  was  sustained  by  Biddy  ;  and  it  was  the  knowl- 
edge of  this  opinion  that  induced  Spike  to  propose  the  tent. 

"  Are  you  sure,  Captain  Spike,  it  is  not  a  desert  island  V 
asked  the  widow  :  "  I  remember  that  my  poor  Mr.  Budd  always 
spoke  of  desert  islands  as  horrid  places,  and  spots  that  every 
one  should  avoid." 

"  What  if  it  is,  aunty,"  said  Rose,  eagerly,  "  while  we  have 
the  brig  here  close  at  hand  ?  We  shall  suffer  none  of  the  wants 
of  such  a  place,  so  long  as  our  friends  can  supply  us." 

"  And  such  friends,  Miss  Rose  I"  exclaimed  Spike,  a  little  sen- 
timentally for  him:  "friends  that  would  undergo  hunger  and 
thirst  themselves,  before  you  should  want  for  any  comforts." 

"  Do,  now,  Madam  Budd,"  put  in  Biddy  in  her  hearty  way. 
"  R's  an  island,  ye'U  renumber ;  and  sure  that's  just  what  ould 
Ireland  has  ever  been,  God  bless  it !  Islands  make  the  pleasant- 
est  risidences." 

"  Well,  I'll  venture  to  oblige  you  and  Biddy,  Rosy  dear," 
returned  the  aunt,  still  half  reluctant  to  jneld ;  "  but  you'll  remem- 
ber, that  if  I  find  it  all  a  desert  island,  I'll  not  pass  the  night 
on  it  on  any  account  whatever." 

With  this  understanding  the  party  was  transferred  to  the 
shore.  The  boatswain  had  already  erected  a  sort  of  tent,  on  a 
favorable  spot,  using  some  of  the  old  sails  that  had  covered  the 
flour-barrels,  not  only  for  the  walls,  but  for  a  carpet  of  some  ex- 
tent also.  This  tent  was  ingeniously  enough  contrived.  In 
addition  to  the  little  room  that  was  entirely  inclosed,  there  was 
a  sort  of  piazza,  or  open  verandah,  which  would  enable  its  ten- 
ants to  enjoy  the  shade  in  the  open  air.  Beneath  this  veran- 
dah a  barrel  of  fresh  water  was  placed,  as  well  as  three  or  four 


JACK      TIER,  18o 

ship's  stools,  all  of  which  had  heen  sent  ashore  with  the  mate- 
rials for  constructing  the  tent.  The  boat  had  been  going  and 
coming  for  some  time,  and  the  distance  being  short,  the  "  desert 
island"  was  soon  a  desert  no  longer.  It  is  true  that  the  sup- 
plies necessary  to  support  three  women  for  as  many  clays  were 
no  great  matter,  and  were  soon  landed,  but  Jack  Tier  had  made 
a  provision  somewhat  more  ample.  A  capital  caterer,  he  had 
foigotten  nothing  within  the  compass  of  his  means,  that  could 
contribute  to  the  comfort  of  those  who  had  been  put  especially 
under  his  care.  Long  before  the  people  "knocked  off"  foi 
their  dinners,  the  arrangements  were  completed,  and  the  boat- 
swain was  ready  to  take  his  leave. 

"Well,  ladies,"  said  that  grum  old  salt,  ^'I  can  do  no  more 
for  you,  as  I  can  see.  This  here  island  is  now  almost  as  com- 
fortable as  a  ship  that  has  been  in  blue  water  for  a  month,  and 
I  don't  know  how  it  can  be  made  more  comfortabler." 

This  was  only  according  to  the  boatswain's  notion  of 
comfort ;  but  Rose  thanked  him  for  his  care  in  her  winning 
way,  while  her  aunt  admitted  that,  "for  a  place  that  Avas 
almost  a  desert  island,  things  did  look  somewhat  promising." 
In  a  few  minutes  the  men  were  all  gone,  and  the  islet  was  left 
to  the  sole  possession  of  the  three  females,  and  their  constant 
companion,  Jack  Tier.  Rose  was  pleased  with  the  novelty  of 
her  situation,  though  the  islet  certainly  did  deserve  the  op- 
probrium of  being  a  "  desert  island."  There  was  no  shade  but 
that  of  the  tent,  and  its  verandah-like  covering,  though  the 
last,  in  particular,  was  quite  extensive.  There  was  no  water, 
that  in  the  barrel  and  that  of  the  ocean  excepted.  Of  her- 
bage there  was  very  little  on  this  islet,  and  that  was  of  the 
most  meager  and  coarse  character,  being  a  long  wiry  grass, 
with  here  and  there  a  few  stunted  bushes.  The  sand  was 
reasonably  firm,  however,  more  especially  round  the  shore, 
and  the  walking  was  far  from  unpleasant.  Little  did  Rose 
'snow  it,  but  a  week  earlier  the  spot  would  have  been  next  to 
intolerable  to  her,  on  account  of  the  musquitoes,  gallinippers. 


ISC  JACK     TIE  U. 

and  other  similar  insects  of  the  family  of  tormentors;  hut 
every  thing  of  the  sort  had  temporarily  disappeared  in  the  cur- 
rents of  the  tornado.  To  do  Spike  justice,  he  was  aware  of 
this  circumstance,  or  he  might  have  hesitated  about  exposirg 
females  to  the  ordinary  annoyances  of  one  of  these  spots.  Not 
a  musquito,  or  anything  of  the  sort  was  left,  however,  all  hav- 
ing gone  to  leeward,  in  the  vortex  which  had  come  so  near 
sweeping  off  the  Mexican  schooner. 

"This  place  will  do  very  well,  aunty,  for  a  day  or  two," 
cried  Rose  cheerfully,  as  she  returned  from  a  short  excursion, 
and  threw  aside  her  hat,  one  made  to  shade  her  face  from  the 
sun  of  a  warm  climate,  leaving  the  sea-breeze,  that  was  just 
beginning  to  blow,  to  fan  her  blooming  and  sunny  cheeks. 
"It  is  better  than  the  brig.  The  worst  piece  of  land  is  better 
than  the  brig." 

"  Do  not  say  that,  Rose — not  if  it's  a  desert  island,  dear ; 
and  this  is  desperately  like  a  desert  island ;  I  am  almost  sorry 
I  ventured  on  it." 

"  It  will  not  be  deserted  by  us,  aunty,  until  we  shall  see 
occasion  to  do  so.  Why  not  endeavor  to  get  on  board  of 
yonder  ship,  and  return  to  New  York  in  her  ;  or  at  least  induce 
her  captain  to  put  us  ashore  somewhere  near  this,  and  go 
home  by  land  ?  Your  health  never  seemed  better  than  it  is  at 
this  moment ;  and  as  for  mine,  I  do  assure  you,  aunty  dear,  I 
am  as  perfectly  well  as  I  ever  was  in  my  life." 

"  All  from  this  voyage.  I  knew  it  would  set  you  up,  and  am 
delighted  to  hear  you  say  as  much.  Biddy  and  I  were  talking 
of  you  this  Very  morning,  my  child,  and  we  both  agreed  that 
you  were  getting  to  be  yourself  again.  Oh,  ships,  and  brigs, 
and  schooners,  full-jigger  or  half-jigger,  for  pulmonary  com- 
plaints, say  I !  My  poor  Mr.  Budd  always  maintained  that 
the  ocean  was  the  cure  for  all  diseases,  and  I  determined  that 
to  sea  you  should  go,  the  moment  I  became  alarmed  for  your 
health." 

The  good  widow  loved  Rose  most  tenderly,  and  she  was 


JACK     TIER 


187 


obliged  to  use  lier  handkerchief  to  dry  the  tears  from  her  eyes 
as  she  concluded.  Those  tears  sprung  equally  from  a  past 
feeling  of  apprehension,  and  a  present  feeling  of  gratitude. 
Rose  saw  this,  and  she  took  a  seat  at  her  aunt's  side,  touched 
herself,  as  she  never  failed  to  be  on  similar  occasions  with  this 
proof  of  her  relative's  affection.  At  that  moment  even  Harry 
Mulford  would  have  lost  a  good  deal  in  her  kind  feelings  to- 
wards him,  had  he  so  much  as  smiled  at  one  of  the  widow's 
nautical  absurdities.  At  such  times,  Rose  seemed  to  be  her 
aunt's  guardian  and  protectress,  instead  of  reversing  the  rela- 
tions, and  she  entirely  forgot  herself  the  many  reasons  which 
existed  for  wishing  that  she  had  been  placed  in  childhood, 
under  the  care  of  one  better  qualified  than  the  well-meaning 
relict  of  her  uncle,  for  the  performance  of  her  duties. 

"  Thank  you,  aunty — thank'ee,  dear  aunty,"  said  Rose,  kiss- 
ing the  widow  affectionately.  "I  know  that  you  mean  the 
best  for  me,  though  you  are  a  little  mistaken  in  supposing  me 
ill.  I  do  assure  you,  dear,"  patting  her  aunt's  cheek,  as  if  she 
herself  had  been  merely  a  playful  child,  "  I  never  was  better ; 
and  if  I  have  been  pulmonary,  I  am  entirely  cured,  and  am 
now  ready  to  return  home." 

"  God  be  praised  for  this,  Rosy.  Under  His  divine  provi- 
dence, it  is  all  owing  to  the  sea.  If  you  really  feel  so  much 
restored,  however,  I  do  not  wish  to  keep  you  a  moment  longer 
on  a  ship's  board  than  is  necessary.  We  owe  something  to 
Captain  Spike's  care,  and  cannot  quit  him  too  unceremonious- 
ly ;  but  as  soon  as  he  is  at  liberty  to  go  into  a  harbor,  I  will 
engage  him  to  do  so,  and  we  can  return  home  by  land — un- 
less, indeed,  the  brig'  intends  to  make  the  home  voyage  her- 
self." 

"I  do  not  like  this  brig,  aunty,  and  now  we  are  out  of  her, 
[  wish  we  could  keep  out  of  her.  Nor  do  I  like  your  Captain 
Spike,  who  seems  to  me  any  thing  but  an  agreeable  gentle- 
man." 

"That's  because  you  aren't  accustomed  to  the  sea.     My 


188  JACK     TIER. 

poor  Mr.  Budd  had  his  ways,  like  all  the  rest  of  them ;  11 
takes  time  to  get  acquainted  with  them.     All  sailors  are  so." 

Rose  bent  her  face  involuntarily,  hut  not  so  low  as  to  conceal 
the  increasing  brightness  of  her  native  bloom,  as  she  answered — 

"  Harry  Mulford  is  not  so,  aunty  dear — and  he  is  every  inch 
a  sailor." 

"  Well,  there  is  a  difference,  I  must  acknowledge,  though  I 
dare  say  Harry  will  grow  every  day  more  and  more  like  all 
the  rest  of  them.  In  the  end,  he  will  resemble  Captain 
Spike." 

"  Never,"  said  Rose,  firmly. 

"You  can't  tell,  child.  I  never  saw  your  uncle  when  he 
was  Harry's  age,  for  I  wasn't  born  till  he  was  thirty,  but  often 
and  often  has  he  pointed  out  to  me  some  slender,  genteel 
youth,  and  say,  'just  such  a  lad  was  I  at  twenty,'  though  no- 
thing could  be  less  alike,  at  the  moment  he  was  speaking, 
than  they  two.  We  all  change  with  our  years.  Now  I  was 
once  as  slender,  and  almost — not  quite,  Rosy,  for  few  there  are 
that  be — but  almost  as  handsome  as  you  yourself." 

"Yes,  aunty,  I  've  heard  that  before,"  said  Rose,  springing 
up,  in  order  to  change  the  discourse ;  "  but  Harry  Mulford 
will  never  become  like  Stephen  Spike.  I  wish  we  had  never 
known  the  man,  dearest  aunty." 

"  It  was  all  your  own  doings,  child.  He's  a  cousin  of  your 
most  intimate  friend,  and  she  brought  him  to  the  house ;  and 
one  couldn't  offend  Mary  Mulford,  by  telling  her  we  didn't 
like  her  cousin." 

Rose  seemed  vexed,  and  she  kept  her  little  foot  in  motion, 
patting  the  sail  that  formed  the  carpef,  as  girls  will  pat  the 
ground  with  their  feet  when  vexed.  This  gleam  of  displeas- 
ure was  soon  over,  hoAvever,  and  her  countenance  became  as 
placid  as  the  clear  blue  sky  that  formed  the  vault  of  the 
heavens  above  her  head.  As  if  to  atone  for  the  passing  rebel- 
lion of  her  feelings,  she  threw  her  arms  around  her  aunt's 
ueck ;  after  which  she  walked  away,  along  the  beach,  rami- 


JACK     TIER.  189 

Dating  on  her  present  situation,  and  of  the  best  means  of  extri- 
cating their  party  from  the  power  of  Spike. 

It  requires  great  familiarity  with  vessels  and  the  seas,  for 
one  to  think,  read,  and  pursue  the  customary  train  of  reason- 
ing on  hoard  a  ship  that  one  has  practised  ashore.  Rose  had 
felt  this  embarrassment  during  the  past  month,  for  the  whole 
of  which  time  she  had  scarcely  been  in  a  condition  to  act  up 
to  her  true  character,  suffering  her  energies,  and  in  some  meas- 
ure her  faculties,  to  be  drawn  into  the  vortex  produced  by  the 
bustle,  novelties,  and  scenes  of  the  vessel  and  the  ocean.  But, 
now  she  was  once  more  on  the  land,  diminutive  and  naked  as 
was  the  islet  that  composed  her  present  world,  and  she  found 
leisure  and  solitude  for  reflection  and  decision.  She  was  not 
ignorant  of  tbe  nature  of  a  vessel  of  war,  or  of  the  impropriety 
of  unprotected  females  placing  themselves  on  board  of  one ; 
but  gentlemen  of  character,  like  the  officers  of  the  ship  in 
sight,  could  hardly  be  wanting  in  the  feelings  of  their  caste ; 
and  any  thing  was  better  than  to  return  voluntarily  within  the 
power  of  Spike.  She  determined  within  her  own  mind  that 
voluntarily  she  would  not.  We  shall  leave  this  young  girl, 
slowly  wandering  along  the  beach  of  her  islet,  musing  on 
matters  like  these,  while  we  return  to  the  vessels  and  the 
mariners. 

A  good  breeze  had  come  in  over  the  reef  from  the  Gulf, 
throwing  the  sloop-of-war  dead  to  leeward  of  the  brigantine's 
anchorage.  This  was  the  reason  that  the  former  had  closed 
so  slowly.  Still  the  distance  between  the  vessels  was  so  small, 
that  a  swift  cruiser,  like  the  ship  of  war,  would  soon  have  been 
alongside  of  the  wreckers,  but  for  the  intervening  islets  and 
the  intricacies  of  their  channels.  She  had  made  sail  on  the 
wind,  however,  and  was  evidently  disposed  to  come  as  near  to 
the  danger  as  her  lead  showed  would  be  safe,  even  if  she  did 
not  venture  among  them. 

Spike  noted  all  these  movements,  and  he  took  his  measures 
accordingly.     The  pumping  and  bailing  had  been  going  on 


190  JACK     TIER. 

since  the  appearance  of  light,  and  the  flour  had  been  quite 
half  removed  from  the  schooner's  hold.  That  vessel  conse- 
quently floated  with  sufficient  buoyancy,  and  no  further  anxiety 
was  felt  on  account  of  her  sinking.  Still,  a  great  deal  of 
water  remained  in  her,  the  cabin  itself  being  nearly  half  full. 
Spike's  object  was  to  reduce  this  water  sufficiently  to  enable 
him  to  descend  into  the  stateroom  which  Senor  Montefalderon 
had  occupied,  and  bring  away  the  doubloons  that  alone  kept 
him  in  the  vicinity  of  so  ticklish  a  neighbor  as  the  Pongh- 
keepsie.  Escape  was  easy  enough  to  one  who  knew  the  pas- 
sages of  the  reef  and  islets ;  more  especially  since  the  wind 
had  so  fortunately  brought  the  cruiser  to  leeward.  Spike  most 
apprehended  a  movement  upon  him  in  the  boats,  and  he  had 
almost  made  up  his  mind,  should  such  an  enterprise  be  at- 
tempted, to  try  his  hand  in  beating  it  off  with  his  guns.  A 
good  deal  of  uncertainty  on  the  subject  of  Mulford's  consenting 
to  resist  the  recognized  authorities  of  the  country,  as  well  as 
some  doubts  of  a  similar  nature  in  reference  to  two  or  three  of 
the  best  of  the  foremast  hands,  alone  left  him  at  all  in  doubi. 
as  to  the  expediency  of  such  a  course.  As  no  boats  were 
lowered  from  the  cruiser,  however,  the  necessity  of  resorting  to 
so  desperate  a  measure  did  not  occur,  and  the  duty  of  lighten- 
ing the  schooner  had  proceeded  without  interruption.  As 
soon  as  the  boatswain  came  off  from  the  islet,  he  and  the  men 
with  him  were  directed  to  take  the  hands  and  lift  the  anchors, 
of  which  it  will  be  remembered  the  Swash  had  several  down. 
Even  Mulford  was  shortly  after  set  at  work  on  the  same  duty ; 
and  these  expert  and  ready  seamen  soon  had  the  brig  clear  of 
the  ground.  As  the  schooner  was  anchored,  and  floated  with- 
out assistance,  the  Swash  rode  by  her. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  men  turned  to,  after 
having  had  their  dinners.  By  this  time,  the  sloop-of-war  was 
within  half  a  league  of  the  bay,  her  progress  having  been 
materially  retarded  by  the  set  of  the  current,  which  was  di- 
rectly against  her.     Spike  saw  that  a  collision  of  some  sort  or 


JACK     TIE  R  .  191 

other  must  speedily  occur,  and  he  determined  to  take  the 
boatswain  with  him,  and  descend  into  the  cabin  of  the  schooner 
in  quest  of  the  gold.  The  boatswaiu  was  summoned,  and 
Senor  Montefalderon  repeated  in  this  man's  presence  the  in- 
structions that  he  thought  it  necessary  for  the  adventurers  to 
follow,  in  order  to  secure  the  prize.  Knowing  how  little  locks 
would  avail  on  board  a  vessel,  were  the  men  disposed  to  rob 
him,  that  gentleman  had  trusted  more  to  secreting  his  treasure, 
than  to  securing  it  in  the  more  ordinary  way.  When  tbe 
story  had  again  been  told,  Spike  and  his  boatswain  went  on 
board  the  schooner,  and,  undressing,  they  prepared  to  descend 
into  the  cabin.  The  captain  paused  a  single  instant  to  take  a 
look  at  the  sloop-of-war,  and  to  examine  the  state  of  the 
weather.  It  is  probable  some  new  impression  was  made  on 
him  by  this  inquiry,  for,  hailirg  Mulford,  he  ordered  him  to 
loosen  the  sails,  and  to  sheet  home,  and  hoist  the  foretopsail. 
In  a  word,  to  "  see  all  ready  to  cast  oft",  and  make  sail  on  the 
brig  at  the  shortest  notice."  With  this  command  he  disap- 
peared by  the  schooner's  companion-way. 

Spike  and  his  companion  found  the  water  in  the  cabin  very 
much  deeper  than  they  had  supposed.  With  a  view  to  com- 
fort, the  cabin-floor  had  been  sunk  much  lower  than  is  usual 
on  board  American  vessels,  and  this  brought  the  water  up 
nearly  to  the  arm-pits  of  two  men  as  short  as  our  captain  and 
his  sturdy  little  boatswain.  The  former  grumbled  a  good  deal, 
when  he  ascertained  the  fact,  and  said  something  about  the 
mate's  being  better  fitted  to  make  a  search  in  such  a  place, 
but  concluding  with  the  remark,  that  "  the  man  who  wants 
ticklish  duty  well  done,  must  see  to  it  himself." 

The  gold-hunters  groped  their  way  cautiously  about  the 
cabin  for  some  time,  feeling  for  a  drawer,  in  which  they  had 
been  told  they  should  find  the  key  of  Senor  Montefalderon's 
stateroom  door.  In  this  Spike  himself  finally  succeeded,  he 
being  much  better  acquainted  with  cabins  and  their  fixtures 
than  the  boatswain. 


192  JACK     TIER. 

"  Ilere  it  is,  Ben,1'  said  the  captain :  "  now  for  a  dive  among 
the  Don's  val'ables.  Should  you  pick  up  any  thing  worth 
speaking  of,  you  can  condemn  it  for  salvage,  as  I  mean  to 
cast  off,  and  quit  the  wrack  the  moment  we  've  made  sure  of 
the  doubloons." 

"  And  what  will  become  of  all  the  black  flower  that  is  lying 
about,  sir  ?"  asked  the  boatswain  with  a  grin. 

"  It  may  take  care  of  itself.  My  agreement  will  be  up  as  soon 
as  the  doubloons  are  found.  If  the  Don  will  come  down  hand- 
somely with  his  share  of  what  will  be  left,  I  may  be  bought 
to  put  the  kegs  we  have  in  the  brig  ashore  for  him  somewhere 
in  Mexico  ;  but  my  wish  is  to  get  out  of  the  neighborhood  of 
that  bloody  sloop-of-war,  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  She  makes  but  slow  headway  ag'in  the  current,  sir ;  but  a 
body  would  think  she  might  send  in  her  boats." 

"  The  boats  might  be  glad  to  get  back  again,"  muttered 
Spike.  "Ay,  here  is  the  door  unlocked,  and  we  can  now  fish 
for  the  money." 

Some  object  had  rolled  against  the  stateroom  door,  when 
the  vessel  was  capsized,  and  tbere  was  a  good  deal  of  difficulty 
in  forcing  it  open.  They  succeeded  at  last,  and  Spike  led  the 
way  by  wading  into  the  small  apartment.  Here  they  began 
to  feel  about  beneath  the  water,  and  by  a  very  insufficient  light, 
in  quest  of  the  hidden  treasure.  Spike  and  his  boatswain  dif- 
fered as  to  the  place  which  had  just  been  described  to  them, 
as  men  will  differ  even  in  the  account  of  events  that  pass 
directly  before  their  eyes.  While  thus  employed,  the  report 
of  a  heavy  gun  came  through  the  doors  of  the  cabin,  pene- 
trating to  the  recess  in  wThich  they  were  thus  employed. 

"Ay,  that's  the  beginning  of  it!"  exclaimed  Spike.  "I 
wonder  that  the  fool  has  put  it  off  so  long." 

"That  gun  was  a  heavy  fellow,  Captain  Spike,"  returned 
the  boatswain ;  "  and  it  sounded  in  my  ears  as  if  'twas  shotted." 

"  Ay,  ay,  I  dare  say  you're  right  enough  in  both  opinions. 
They  put  such  guns  on  board  their  sloops-of-war,  now-a-days, 


JACK     TIER.  193 

as  a  fellow  used  to  find  in  the  lower  batteries  of  a  two-decker 
only  in  old  times ;  and  as  for  shot,  why  Uncle  Sam  pays, 
and  they  think  it  cheaper  to  fire  one  out  of  a  gun,  than  to 
take  the  trouble  of  drawing  it." 

"I  believe  here's  one  of  the  bags,  Captain  Spike,"  said  the 
boatswain,  making  a  dip,  and  coming  up  with  one  half  of  the 
desired  treasure  in  his  fist.  "  By  George,  I've  grabbed  him, 
sir ;  and  the  other  bag  can't  be  far  off." 

"  Hand  that  over  to  me,"  said  the  captain,  a  little  authori- 
tatively, "  and  take  a  dive  for  the  next." 

As  the  boatswain  was  obeying  this  order,  a  second  gun  was 
heard,  and  Spike  thought  that  the  noise  made  by  the  near 
passage  of  a  large  shot  was  audible  also.  He  called  out  to 
Ben  to  "  bear  a  hand,  as  the  ship  seems  in  'arnest."  But  the 
head  of  the  boatswain  being  under  water  at  the  time,  the 
admonition  was  thrown  away.  The  fellow  soon  came  up, 
however,  puffing  like  a  porpoise  that  has  risen  to  the  surface 
to  blow. 

"  Hand  it  over  to  me  at  once,"  said  Spike,  stretching  out 
his  unoccupied  hand  to  recci\*e  the  prize ;  "  we  have  little 
time  to  lose." 

"  That's  sooner  said  than  done,  sir,"  answered  the  boatswain  ; 
"  a  box  has  driven  down  upon  the  bag,  and  there's  a  tight  jam. 
I  got  hold  of  the  neck  of  the  bag,  and  pulled  like  a  horse,  but 
it  wouldn't  come  no  how." 

"Show  me  the  place,  and  let  me  have  a  drag  at  it.  There 
goes  another  of  his  bloody  guns !" 

DoAvn  went  Spike,  and  the  length  of  time  he  was  under 
water,  proved  how  much  he  was  in  earnest.  Up  he  came  at 
length,  and  with  no  better  luck  than  his  companion.  Ue  had 
got  hold  of  the  bag,  satisfied  himself  by  feeling  its  outside  that 
it  contained  the  doubloons,  and  hauled  with  all  his  strength, 
but  it  would  not  come.  The  boatswain  now  proposed  to  take 
a  jamming  hitch  with  a  rope  around  the  neck  of  the  bag, 
which  was  long  enough  to  admit  of  such  a  fastening,  and  then 

0 


194  JACK     TIER. 

to  apply  their  united  force.  Spike  assented,  and  tlie  boatswain 
rummaged  about  for  a  piece  of  small  rope  to  suit  bis  purpose. 
At  tbis  moment  Mulford  appeared  at  the  companion-way  to 
announce  tbe  movements  on  the  part  of  the  sloop-of-war. 
lie  bad  been  purposely  tardy,  in  order  to  give  tbe  ship  as 
much  time  as  possible ;  but  be  saw  by  tbe  looks  of  the  men 
that  a  longer  delay  might  excite  suspicion. 

"Below  there!"  called  out  the  mate. 

"What's  wanting,  sir? — what's  wanting,  sir?"  answered 
Spike  ;  "  let's  know  at  once." 

"  Have  you  heard  the  guns,  Captain  Spike  ?" 

"  Ay,  ay,  every  grumbler  of  them.  They've  done  no  mis- 
chief, I  trust,  Mr.  Mulford  ?" 

"None  as  yet,  sir;  though  the  last  shot,  and  it  was  a  heavy 
fellow,  passed  just  above  the  schooner's  deck.  I've  the  topsail 
sheeted  home  and  hoisted,  and  it's  that  which  has  set  them 
at  work.  If  I  clewed  up  again,  I  dare  say  they'd  not  fire 
another  gun." 

"Clew  up  nothing,  sir,  but  see  all  clear  for  casting  off  and 
making  sail  through  the  South  Pass.  What  do  you  say,  Ben, 
are  you  ready  for  a  drag  ?" 

"All  ready,  sir,"  answered  the  boatswain,  once  more  coming 
up  to  breathe.  "Now  for  it,  sir;  a  steady  pull,  and  a  pull  all 
together." 

They  did  pull,  but  the  hitch  slipped,  and  both  went  down 
beneath  the  water.  In  a  moment  they  were  up  again,  puffing 
a  little  and  swearing  a  great  deal.  Just  then  another  gun,  and 
a  clatter  above  their  heads,  brought  them  to  a  stand. 

"  What  means  that,  Mr.  Mulford  ?"  demanded  Spike,  a  good 
deal  startled. 

"  It  means  that  the  sloop-of-war  has  shot  away  the  head  of 
this  schooner's  foremast,  sir,  and  that  the  shot  has  chipp'd  a 
small  piece  out  of  the  heel  of  our  maintop-mast — that's  all." 

Though  excessively  provoked  at  tbe  mate's  cool  manner  of 
replying,  Spike  saw  that  he  might  lose  all  by  being  too  tena- 


JACK    TIER.  195 

cious  about  securing  the  remainder  of  the  doubloons.  Pro- 
nouncing in  very  energetic  terms  on  Uncle  Sam,  and. all  bis 
cruisers,  an  anathema  that  we  do  not  care  to  repeat,  he  gave  a 
surely  order  to  Ben  to  "  knock-oft*,"  and  abandoned  his  late 
design.     In  a  minute  he  was  on  deck  and  dressed. 

"  Cast  off,  lads,"  cried  tbe  captain,  as  soon  as  on  the  deck  of 
his  own  brig  again,  "  and  four  of  you  man  that  boat.  We  have 
got  half  of  your  treasure,  Senor  Wan,  but  have  been  driven 
from  the  rest  of  it,  as  you  see.  There  is  the  bag;  when  at 
leisure  we'll  divide  it,  and  give  the  people  their  share.  Mr. 
Mulford,  keep  the  brig  in  motion,  hauling  up  towards  the  South 
Pass,  while  I  go  ashore  for  the  ladies.  I'll  meet  you  just  in 
the  throat  of  the  passage." 

This  said,  Spike  tumbled  into  his  boat,  and  was  pulled 
ashore.  As  for  Mulford,  though  he  cast  many  an  anxious 
glance  towards  the  islet,  he  obeyed  his  orders,  keeping  the  brig 
standing  off  and  on,  under  easy  canvas,  but  working  her  up 
towards  the  indicated  passage. 

Spike  was  met  by  Jack  Tier  on  the  beach  of  the  little 
island. 

"  Muster  the  women  at  once,"  ordered  the  captain,  "  we  have 
no  time  to  lose,  for  that  fellow  will  soon  be 'firing  broadsides, 
and  his  shot  now  range  half  a  mile  beyond  us." 

"  You'll  no  more  move  the  widow  and  her  maid,  than  you'll 
move  the  island,"  answered  Jack,  laconically. 

"  Why  should  I  not  move  them  ?  Do  they  wish  to  stay 
here  and  starve  ?" 

"It's  little  that  they  think  of  that.  The  sloop-of-war  no 
sooner  begun  to  fire  than  down  went  Mrs.  Budd  on  the  canvas 
floor  of  the  tent,  and  set  up  just  such  a  screaming  as  you  may 
remember  she  tried  her  hand  at  the  night  the  revenue  craft 
fired  into  us.  Biddy  lay  down  alongside  of  her  mistress,  and 
at  every  gun  they  just  scream  as  loud  as  they  can,  as  if  they 
fancied  they  might  frighten  off  Uncle  Sam's  men  from  their 
duty." 


196  JACK     TIER, 

"  Duty ! — You  little  scamp,  do  you  call  tormeuting  honest 
traders  in  this  fashion  the  duty  of  any  man  V 

"Well,  captain,  I'm  no  ways  partic'lar  about  a  word  or  two. 
Their  'ways,'  if  you  like  that  better  than  duty,  sir." 

"  Where's  Rose  ?  Is  she  down  too,  screaming  and  scmall- 
ing?" 

"  No,  Captain  Spike,  no.  Miss  Rose  is  endeavoring,  like  a 
handsome  young  Christian  lady  as  she  is,  to  pacify  and  mollify 
her  aunt  and  Biddy ;  and  right  down  sensible  talk  does  she 
give  them." 

"Then  she  at  least  can  go  aboard  the  brig,"  exclaimed 
Spike,  with  a  sudden  animation,  and  an  expression  of  counte- 
nance that  Jack  did  not  at  all  like. 

"  I  ray-y-ther  think  she'll  wish  to  hold  on  to  the  old  lady," 
observed  the  steward's  mate,  a  little  emphatically. 

"  You  be  d d,"  cried  Spike,  fiercely ;  "  when  your  opi- 
nion is  wanted,  I'll  ask  for  it.  If  I  find  you've  been  setting 
that  young  woman's  mind  ag'in  me,  I'll  toss  you  overboard, 
as  I  would  the  offals  of  a  shark." 

"  Young  women's  minds,  when  they  are  only  nineteen,  get 
set  ag'in  boys  of  fifty-six  without  much  assistance." 

"  Fifty-six  yourself." 

"I'm  fifty-three — that  I'll  own  without  making  faces  at 
it,"  returned  Jack,  meekly ;  "  and,  Stephen  Spike,  you  logged 
fifty-six  your  last  birthday,  or  a  false  entry  was  made." 

This  conversation  did  not  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the 
boat's  crew,  but  as  the  two  walked  together  towards  the  tent. 
They  were  now  in  the  verandah,  as  we  have  called  the  shaded 
opaning  in  front,  and  actually  within  sound  of  the  sweet  voice 
of  Rose,  as  she  exhorted  her  aunt,  in  tones  a  little  louder  than 
usual  for  her  to  use,  to  manifest  more  fortitude.  Under  such 
circumstances  Spike  did  not  deem  it  expedient  to  utter  thai 
which  was  uppermost  in  his  mind,  but,  turning  short  upon 
Tier,  he  directed  a  tremendous  blow  directly  between  his  eyes 
Jack  saw  the  danger  and  dodged,  falling  backward  to  avoid  * 


JACK      T  1EK,  197 

concussion  -which  he  knew  would  otherwise  he  fearful,  coming 
as  it  would  from  one  of  the  hest  forecastle  boxers  of  his  time. 
The  full  force  of  the  blow  was  avoided,  though  Jack  got  enough 
of  it  to  knock  him  down,  and  to  give  him  a  pair  of  black  eyes. 
Spike  did  not  stop  to  pick  the  assistant  steward  up,  for  another 
gun  wras  fired  at  that  very  instant,  and  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy 
renewed  their  screams.  Instead  of  pausing  to  kick  the  pros- 
trate Tier,  as  had  just  before  been  his  intention,  the  captain 
entered  the  tent. 

A  scene  that  was  sufficiently  absurd  met  the  view  of  Spike, 
when  he  found  himself  in  the  presence  of  the  females.  The 
widow  had  thrown  herself  on  the  ground,  and  was  grasping 
the  cloth  of  the  sail  on  which  the  tent  had  been  erected  with 
both  her  hands,  and  was  screaming  at  the  top  of  her  voice. 
Biddy's  imitation  was  not  exactly  literal,  for  she  had  taken 
a  comfortable  seat  at  the  side  of  her  mistress,  but  in  the  way 
of  cries,  she  rather  outdid  her  principal. 

"  "We  must  be  off,"  cried  Spike,  somewhat  unceremoniously. 
"  The  man-of-war  is  blazing  away,  as  if  she  was  a  firin'  minute- 
guns  over  our  destruction,  and  I  can  wait  no  longer." 

"  I'll  not  stir,"  answered  the  widow — "  I  can't  stir — I  shall 
be  shot  if  I  go  out.     No,  no,  no — I'll  not  stir  an  inch." 

"We'll  be  kilt!— we'll  be  kilt!"  echoed  Biddy,  "and  a 
wicket  murther  'twill  be  in  that  same  man,  war  or  no  wrar." 

The  captain  perceived  the  uselessness  of  remonstrance  at 
such  a  moment,  and  perhaps  he  was  secretly  rejoiced  thereat ; 
but  it  is  certain  that  he  whipped  Rose  up  under  his  arm,  and 
walked  away  with  her,  as  if  she  had  been  a  child  of  two  or 
three  years  of  age.  Rose  did  not  scream,  but  she  struggled 
and  protested  vehemently.  It  was  in  vain.  Already  the  cap- 
tain had  carried  her  half  the  distance  between  the  tent  and 
the  boat,  in  the  last  of  which,  a  minute  more  woiiid  have 
deposited  his  victim,  when  a  severe  blow  on  the  back  of  his 
bead  caused  Spike  to  stumble,  and  he  permitted  Rose  to  escape 
from  his  grasp,  in  the  effort  to  save  himself  from  a  fall.    Turn- 


198  JACK      1'IEE, 

ing  fiercely  towards  Lis  assailant,  whom  he  suspected  to  be  one 
of  his  boat's  crew,  he  saw  Tier  standing  within  a  few  yards, 
levelling  a  pistol  at  him. 

"Advance  a  step,  and  you're  a  dead  man,  villain!"  scream- 
ed Jack,  his  voice  almost  cracked  with  rage,  and  the  effort  he 
made  to  menace. 

Spike  muttered  an  oath  too  revolting  for  our  pages ;  but  it 
was  such  a  curse  as  none  but  an  old  salt  could  give  vent  to, 
and  that  in  the  bitterness  of  his  fiercest  wrath.  At  that  criti- 
cal moment,  while  Rose  was  swelling  with  indignation  and 
wounded  maiden  pride,  almost  within  reach  of  his  arms,  look- 
ing more  lovely  than  ever,  as  the  flush  of  anger  deepened  the 
color  in  her  cheeks,  a  fresh  and  deep  report  from  one  of  the 
guns  of  the  sloop-of-war  drew  all  eyes  in  her  direction.  The 
belching  of  that  gun  seemed  to  be  of  double  the  power  of  • 
those  which  had  preceded  it,  and  jets  of  water,  that  were 
twenty  feet  in  height,  marked  the  course  of  the  formidable 
missile  that  was  projected  from  the  piece.  The  ship  had,  in- 
deed, discharged  one  of  those  monster-cannons  that  bear  the 
name  of  a  distinguished  French  engineer,  but  which  should 
more  properly  be  called  by  the  name  of  the  ingenious  officer 
who  is  at  the  head  of  our  own  ordnance,  as  they  came  origi- 
nally from  his  inventive  faculties,  though  somewhat  improved 
by  their  European  adopter.  Spike  suspected  the  truth,  for  he 
had  heard  of  these  "  Pazans,"  as  he  called  them,  and  he  watch- 
ed the  booming,  leaping  progress  of  the  eight-inch  shell  that 
this  gun  threw,  with  the  apprehension  that  unknown  danger 
is  apt  to  excite.  As  jet  succeeded  jet,  each  rising  nearer  and 
nearer  to  his  brig,  the  interval  of  time  between  them  seeming 
fearfully  to  diminish,  he  muttered  oath  upon  oath.  The  last 
leap  that  the  shell  made  on  the  water  was  at  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile's  distance  of  the  islet  on  which  his  people  had  de- 
posited at  least  a  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of  his  spurious 
flour :  thence  it  flew,  as  it  might  be  without  an  effort,  with  a 
grand  and  stately  bound  into  the  very  centre  of  the  barrels, 


JACK     TIER,  199 

exploding  at  the  moment  it  struck.  All  saw  the  scattering  of 
flour,  which  was  instantly  succeeded  by  the  heavy  though 
slightly  straggling  explosion  of  all  the  powder  on  the  island. 
A  hundred  kegs  were  lighted,  as  it  might  be,  in  a  common 
flash,  and  a  cloud  of  white  smoke  poured  out  and  concealed 
the  whole  islet,  and  all  near  it. 

Rose  stood  confounded,  nor  was  Jack  Tier  in  a  much  better 
state  of  mind,  though  he  still  kept  the  pistol  levelled,  and 
menaced  Spike.  But  the  last  was  no  longer  dangerous  to  any 
there.  He  recollected  that  piles  of  the  barrels  encumbered 
the  decks  of  his  vessel,  and  he  rushed  to  the  boat,  nearly  frantic 
with  haste,  ordering  the  men  to  pull  for  their  lives.  In  less 
than  five  minutes  he  was  alongside,  and  on  the  deck  of  the 
Swash — his  first  order  being,  "Tumble  every  barrel  of  this 
bloody  powder  into  the  sea,  men.  Over  with  it,  Mr.  Mulford, 
clear  away  the  midship  ports,  and  launch  as  much  as  you  can 
through  them." 

Remonstrance  on  the  part  of  Senor  Montefalderon  would 
have  been  useless,  had  he  been  disposed  to  make  it ;  but,  sooth 
to  say,  he  was  as  ready  to  get  rid  of  the  powder  as  any  there, 
after  the  specimen  he  had  just  witnessed  of  the  power  of  a 
Paixhan  guu. 

Thus  it  is  ever  with  men.  Had  two  or  three  of  those  shells 
been  first  thrown  without  effect,  as  might  very  well  have  hap- 
pened under  the  circumstances,  none  there  would  have  cared 
for  the  risk  they  were  running ;  but  the  chance  explosion 
which  had  occurred,  presented  so  vivid  a  picture  of  the  danger, 
dormant  and  remote  as  it  really  was,  as  to  throw  the  entire 
crew  of  the  Swash  into  a  frenzy  of  exertion. 

Nor  was  the  vessel  at  all  free  from  danger.  On  the  con- 
trary, she  ran  very  serious  risk  of  being  destroyed,  and  in  some 
degree,  in  the  very  manner  apprehended.  Perceiving  that 
Spike  was  luffing  up  through  one  of  the  passages  nearest  the 
reef,  which  would  carry  him  clear  of  the  group,  a  long  dis- 
tance to  windward  of  the  point  where  he  could  only  effect  the 


200  JACK     TIER. 

same  object,  the  commander  of  the  sloop-of-war  opened  his 
fire  in  good  earnest,  hoping  to  shoot  away  something  material 
on  hoard  the  Swash,  before  she  could  get  beyond  the  reach  of 
his  shot.  The  courses  steered  by  the  two  vessels,  just  at  that 
moment,  favored  such  an  attempt,  though  they  made  it  neces- 
sarily very  short-lived.  While  the  Swash  was  near  the  wind, 
the  sloop-of-war  was  obliged  to  run  off  to  avoid  islets  ahead 
of  her,  a  circumstance  which,  while  it  brought  the  brig  square 
with  the  ship's  broadside,  compelled  the  latter  to  steer  on  a 
diverging  line  to  the  course  of  her  chase.  It  was  in  conse- 
quence of  these  facts,  that  the  sloop-of-war  now  opened  in 
earnest,  and  was  soon  canopied  in  the  smoke  of  her  own  fire. 

Great  and  important  changes,  as  has  been  already  mentioned, 
have  been  made  in  the  armaments  of  all  the  smaller  cruisers 
within  the  last  few  years.  Half  a  generation  since,  a  ship 
of  the  rate — we  do  not  say  of  the  size — of  the  vessel  which 
was  in  chase  of  Spike  and  his  craft,  would  not  have  had 
it  in  her  power  to  molest  an  enemy  at  the  distance  these  two 
vessels  were  now  apart.  But  recent  improvements  have  made 
ships  of  this  nominal  force  formidable  at  nearly  a  league's 
distance ;  more  especially  by  means  of  their  Paixhans  and 
their  shells. 

For  some  little  time  the  range  carried  the  shot  directly  over 
the  islet  of  the  tent ;  Jack  Tier  and  Rose,  both  of  whom  were 
watching  all  that  passed  with  intense  interest,  standing  in  the 
open  air  the  whole  time,  seemingly  with  no  concern  for  them- 
selves, so  absorbed  was  each,  notwithstanding  all  that  had 
passed,  in  the  safety  of  the  brig.  As  for  Rose,  she  thought 
only  of  Harry  Mulford,  and  of  the  danger  he  was  in  by  those 
fearful  explosions  of  the  shells.  Her  quick  intellect  compre- 
hended the  peculiar  nature  of  the  risk  that  was  incurred  by 
having  the  flour-barrels  on  deck,  and  she  could  not  but  see  the 
manner  in  which  Spike  and  his  men  were  tumbling  them  into 
the  water,  as  the  quickest  manner  of  getting  rid  of  them, 
^.fter  what  had  just  passed  between  Jack  Tier  and  his  coin- 


JACK      TIER.  201 

Blander,  it  might  not  be  so  easy  to  account  for  his  manifest, 
nay,  intense  interest  in  the  escape  of  the  Swash.  This  was 
apparent  by  his  troubled  countenance,  by  his  exclamations,  and 
occasionally  by  his  openly  expressed  wishes  for  her  safety. 
Perhaps  it  was  no  more  than  the  interest  the  seaman  is  so  apt 
to  feel  in  the  craft  in  which  he  has  so  long  sailed,  and  which 
to  him  has  been  a  home,  and  of  which  Mulford  exhibited  so 
much,  in  his  struggles  between  feeling  and  conscience — be 
tween  a  true  and  a  false  duty. 

As  for  Spike  and  his  people,  we  have  already  mentioned 
their  efforts  to  get  rid  of  the  powder.  Shell  after  shell  ex- 
ploded, though  none  very  near  the  brig,  the  ship  working  her 
guns  as  if  in  action.  At  length  the  officers  of  the  sloop-of-war 
detected  a  source  of  error  in  their  aim,  that  is  of  very  common 
occurrence  in  sea-gunnery.  Their  shot  had  been  thrown  to 
ricochet,  quartering  a  low,  but  very  regular  succession  of  little 
waves.  Each  shot  striking  the  water  at  an  acute  angle  to  its 
agitated  surface,  was  deflected  from  a  straight  line,  and  de- 
scribed a  regular  curve  towards  the  end  of  its  career ;  or,  it 
might  be  truer  to  say,  an  irregular  curvature,  for  the  deflec- 
tion increased  as  the  momentum  of  the  missile  diminished. 

No  sooner  did  the  commanding  officer  of  the  sloop-of-war 
discover  this  fact — and  it  was  easy  to  trace  the  course  of  the 
shots  by  the  jets  of  water  they  cast  into  the  air,  and  to  see  as 
well  as  to  hear  the  explosions  of  the  shells — than  he  ordered  the 
guns  pointed  more  to  windward,  as  a  means  of  counteracting 
the  departure  from  the  straight  lines.  This  expedient  suc- 
ceeded in  part,  the  solid  shot  falling  much  nearer  to  the  brig 
the  moment  the  practice  was  resorted  to.  No  shell  was  fired 
for  some  little  time  after  the  new  order  was  issued,  and  Spike 
and  his  people  began  to  hope  these  terrific  missiles  had  ceased 
their  annoyance.  The  men  cheered,  finding  their  voices  for 
the  first  time  since  the  danger  had  seemed  so  imminent,  and 
Spike  was  heard  animating  them  to  their  duty.  As  for  Mul 
ford,  he  was  on  the  coach-house  deck,  working  the  brig,  the 


202  JACK     TIER. 

captain  having  confided  to  Lira  that  delicate  duty,  the  highest 
proof  he  could  furnish  of  confidence  in  his  seamanship.  The 
handsome  young  mate  had  just  made  a  half-board,  in  the 
neatest  manner,  shoving  the  brig  by  its  means  through  a  most- 
difficult  part  of  the  passage,  and  had  got  her  handsomely  filled 
again  on  the  same  tack,  looking  right  out  into  open  water,  by 
a  channel  through  which  she  could  now  stand  on  a  very  easy 
bowline.  Every  thing  seemed  propitious,  and  the  sloop-of-war's 
solid  shot  began  to  drop  into  the  water,  a  hundred  yards  short 
of  the  brig.  In  this  state  of  things  one  of  the  Paixhans 
belched  forth  its  angry  flame  and  sullen  roar  again.  There 
was  no  mistaking  the  gun.  Then  came  its  mass  of  iron,  a 
globe  that  would  have  weighed  just  sixty-eight  pounds,  had  not 
sufficient  metal  been  left  out  of  its  interior  to  leave  a  cavity 
to  contain  a  single  pound  of  powder.  Its  course,  as  usual,  was 
to  be  marked  by  its  path  along  the  sea,  as  it  bounded,  half  a 
mile  at  a  time,  from  wave  to  wave.  Spike  saw  by  its  undeviating 
course  that  this  shell  was  booming  terrifically  towards  his  brig, 
and  a  cry  to  "  look  out  for  the  shell,"  caused  the  work  to  be 
suspended.  That  shell  struck  the  water  for  the  last  time 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  brig,  rose  dark  and  menacing 
in  its  furious  leap,  but  exploded  at  the  next  instant.  The  frag- 
ments of  the  iron  were  scattered  on  each  side,  and  ahead. 
Of  the  last,  three  or  four  fell  into  the  water  so  near  the  vessel 
as  to  cast  their  spray  on  her  decks. 

"  Overboard  with  the  rest  of  the  powder !"  shouted  Spike. 
"Keep  the  brig  off  a  little,  Mr.  Mulford — keep  her  off,  sir; 
you  luff  too  much,  sir." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  the  mate.  "  Keep  her  off,  it  is." 
"  There  comes  the  other  shell !"  cried  Ben,. but  the  men  did 
not  quit  their  toil  to  gaze  this  time.  Each  seaman  worked  as 
if  life  and  death  depended  on  his  single  exertions.  Spike 
alone  watched  the  course  of  the  missile.  On  it  came,  booming 
and  hurtling  through  the  air,  tossing  high  the  jets,  at  each 
!eap  it  made  from  the  surface,  striking  the  water  for  its  last 


JACK     TIER.  £03 

bound,  seemingly  in  a  line  with  the  shell  that  had  just  pre- 
ceded it.  From  that  spot  it  made  its  final  leap.  Every  hand 
in  the  brig  was  stayed  and  every  eye  was  raised  as  the  rushing 
tempest  was  heard  advancing.  The  mass  went  muttering 
directly  between  the  masts  of  the  Swash.  It  had  scarcely 
seemed  to  go  by  when  the  fierce  flash  of  fire  and  the  sharp 
explosion  followed.  Happily  for  those  in  the  brig,  the  projec- 
tile force  given  by  the  gun  carried  the  fragments  from  them, 
as  in  the  other  instance  it  had  brought  them  forward ;  else 
would  few  have  escaped  mutilation,  or  death,  among  their 
crew. 

The  flashing  of  the  fire  so  near  the  barrels  of  powder  that 
still  remained  on  their  deck,  caused  the  frantic  efforts  to  be 
renewed,  and  barrel  after  barrel  was  tumbled  overboard,  amid 
the  shouts  that  were  now  raised  to  animate  the  people  to  their 
duty. 

"  Luff,  Mr.  Mulford — luff*  you  may,  sir,"  cried  Spike. 

No  answer  was  given. 

"D'ye  hear  there,  Mr.  Mulford? — it  is  luff  you  may,  sir." 

"  Mr.  Mulford  is  not  aft,  sir,"  called  out  the  man  at  the  helm 
— "  but  luff  it  is,  sir." 

"  Mr.  Mulford  not  aft !  Where's  the  mate,  man  ?  Tell  him 
he  is  wanted." 

No  Mulford  was  to  be  found ! .  A  call  passed  round  the 
decks,  was  sent  below,  and  echoed  throughout  the  entire  brig, 
but  no  sign  or  tidings  could  be  had  of  the  handsome  mate. 
At  that  exciting  moment  the  sloop-of-war  seemed  to  cease  her 
firing,  and  appeared  to  be  securing  her  guns. 


204  JACK     TIER. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

"Thou  art  the  same,  eternal  sea! 
The  earth  has  many  shapes  and  forms, 
Of  hill  and  valley,  flower  and  tree; 
Fields  that  the  fervid  noontide  warms, 
Or  winter's  rugged  grasp  deforms, 
Or  bright  with  autumn's  golden  store: 
Thou  coverest  up  thy  face  with  storms, 
Or  smilest  serene, — but  still  thy  roar 
And  dashing  foam  go  up  to  vex  the  sea-beat  shore." 

Lunt. 

We  shall  now  advance  the  time  eight-and-forty  hours.  The 
baffling  winds  and  calms  that  succeeded  the  tornado  had  gone, 
and  the  trades  blew  in  their  stead.  Both  vessels  had  disap- 
peared, the  brig  leading,  doubling  the  western  extremity  of 
the  reef,  and  going  off  before  both  wind  and  current  with 
flowing  sheets,  fully  three  hours  before  the  sloop-of-war  could 
beat  up  against  the  latter,  to  a  point  that  enabled  her  to  do 
the  same  thing.  By  that  time,  the  Swash  was  five-and-twenty 
miles  to  the  eastward,  and  consequently  but  just  discernible  in 
her  loftiest  sails,  from  the  ship's  royal  yards.  Still,  the  latter 
continued  the  chase ;  and  that  evening  both  vessels  were  beat- 
ing down  along  the  southern  margin  of  the  Florida  Beef, 
against  the  trades,  but  favored  by  a  three  or  four  knot  current, 
the  brig  out  of  sight  to  windward.  Our  narrative  leads  us  to 
lose  sight  of  both  these  vessels,  for  a  time,  in  order  to  return 
to  the  islets  of  the  Gulf.  Eight-and-forty  hours  had  made 
some  changes  in  and  around  the  haven  of  the  Dry  Tortugas. 
The  tent  still  stood,  and  a  small  fire  that  was  boiling  its  pot 
and  its  kettle,  at  no  gi^at  distance  from  it,  proved  that  the 
tent  was  still  inhabited.  The  schooner  also  rode  at  her  an- 
chors, very  much  as  she  had  been  abandoned  by  Spike.     The 


JACK      TIER.  205 

bag  of  doubloons,  however,  had  been  found,  and  there  it  lay, 
tied,  but  totally  unguarded,  in  the  canvas  verandah  of  Rose 
Budd's  habitation.  Jack  Tier  passed  and  repassed  it  with  ap- 
parent indifference,  as  he  went  to  and  fro  between  his  pantry 
and  kitchen,  busy  as  a  bee  in  preparing  his  noontide  meal  for 
the  day.  This  man  seemed  to  have  the  islet  all  t©  himself, 
however,  no  one  else  being  visible  on  any  part  of  it.  lie  sang 
his  song  in  a  cracked,  contralto  voice,  and  appeared  to  be 
happy  in  his  solitude.  Occasionally  he  talked  to  himself 
aloud,  most  probably  because  he  had  no  one  else  to  speak  to. 
We  shall  record  one  of  his  recitatives,  which  came  in  between 
the  strains  of  a  very  inharmonious  air,  the  words  of  which 
treated  of  the  seas,  while  the  steward's  assistant  was  stirring 
an  exceedingly  savory  mess  that  he  had  concocted  of  the  in- 
gredients to  be  found  in  the  united  larders  of  the  Swash  and 
the  Mexican  schooner. 

"  Stephen  Spike  is  a  capital  willian  !"  exclaimed  Jack,  smell- 
ing at  a  ladle  filled  with  his  soup — "  a  capital  willian,  I  call 
him.  To  think,  at  his  time  of  life,  of  such  a  handsome  and 
pleasant  young  thing  as  this  Rose  Budd ;  and  then  to  try  to 
get  her  by  underhand  means,  and  by  making  a  fool  of  her 
silly  old  aunt.  It's  wonderful  what  fools  some  old  aunts  be ! 
Quite  wonderful !  If  I  was  as  great  a  simpleton  as  this  Mrs. 
Budd,  I'd  never  cross  my  threshold.  Yes,  Stephen  Spike  is 
a  prodigious  willian,  as  his  best  friends  must  own !  Well,  I 
gave  him  a  thump  on  the  head  that  he'll  not  forget  this 
v'y'ge.  To  think  of  carryin'  off  that  pretty  Rose  Budd  in  his 
very  arms,  in  so  indecent  a  manner !  Yet,  the  man  has  his 
good  p'ints,  if  a  body  could  only  forget  his  bad  ones.  He's  a 
first-rate  seaman.  How  he  worked  the  brig  till  he  doubled 
the  reef,  a'ter  she  got  into  open  water ;  and  how  he  made  her 
walk  off  afore  the  wind,  with  stun'sails  alow  and  aloft,  as  soon 
as  ever  he  could  make  'em  draw !  My  life  for  it,  he  '11  tire 
the  legs  of  Uncle  Sam's  man,  afore  he  can  fetch  up  with  him. 
For  running  away,  when  hard  chased,  Stephen  Spike  hasn't 


206  JACK     TIER. 

his  equal  on  'arth.  But,  he's  a  great  willian — a  prodigionu 
willian !  I  cannot  say  I  actually  wish  him  hanged ;  hut  I 
would  rather  have  him  hanged  than  see  him  get  pretty  Rose 
in  his  power.  What  has  he  to  do  with  girls  of  nineteen  ?  If 
the  rascal  is  one  year  old,  he's  fifty-six.  I  hope  the  sloop-of  • 
war  will  find  her  match,  and  I  think  she  will.  The  Molly's  a 
great  traveller,  and  not  to  he  outdone  easily.  'Twould  be  a 
thousand  pities  so  lovely  a  craft  should  he  cut  oft*  in  the  flower 
of  her  days,  as  it  might  be,  and  I  do  hope  she'll  lead  that 
bloody  sloop  on  some  sunken  rock. 

"  Well,  there's  the  other  bag  of  doubloons.  It  seems 
Stephen  could  not  get  it.  That's  odd,  too,  for  he's  great  at 
grabbin'  gold.  The  man  bears  his  age  well ;  but  he's  a  wil- 
lian !  I  wonder  whether  he  or  Mulford  made  that  half-board 
in  the  narrow  channel.  It  was  well  done,  and  Stephen  is  a 
perfect  sailor ;  but  he  says  Mulford  is  the  same.  Nice  young 
man,  that  Mulford;  just  fit  for  Rose,  and  Rose  for  him.  Pity 
to  part  them.  Can  find  no  great  fault  with  him,  except  that 
lie  has  too  much  conscience.  There's  such  a  thing  as  having 
too  much,  as  well  as  too  little  conscience.  Mulford  has  too 
much,  and  Spike  has  too  little.  For  him  to  think  of  carryin' 
off  a  gal  of  nineteen !  I  say  he's  fifty-six,  if  he's  a  day.  How 
fond  he  used  to  be  of  this  very  soup !  If  I've  seen  him  eat  a 
quart  of  it,  I've  seen  him  eat  a  puncheon  full  of  it,  in  my 
time.  What  an  appetite  the  man  has  when  he's  had  a  hard 
day's  duty  on't  1  There's  a  great  deal  to  admire,  and  a  great 
deal  to  like  in  Stephen  Spike,  but  he's  a  reg'lar  willian.  I 
dare  say  he  fancies  himself  a  smart,  jaunty  youth  ag'in,  as  I 
can  remember  him ;  a  lad  of  twenty,  which  was  about  his 
years  when  I  first  saw  him,  by  the  sign  that  I  was  very  little 
turned  of  fifteen  myself.  Spike  was  comely  then,  though  I  ac- 
knowledge he's  a  willian.  I  can  see  him  now,  with  his  deep 
blue  roundabout,  his  bell-mouthed  trowsers,  both  of  fine  cloth 
— too  fine  for  such  a  willian — but  fine  it  was,  and  much  did  it 
become  him." 


JACK     TIER.  207 

Here  Jack  made  a  long  pause,  during  which,  though  he  may 
have  thought  much,  he  said  nothing.  Nevertheless,  he  wasn't 
idle  the  while.  On  the  contrary,  he  passed  no  less  than  three 
several  times  from  the  fire  to  the  tent,  and  returned.  Each 
time,  in  going  and  coming,  he  looked  intently  at  the  bag  of 
doubloons,  though  he  did  not  stop  at  it  or  touch  it.  Some 
associations  connected  with  Spike's  fruitless  attempts  to  obtain 
it  must  have  formed  its  principal  interest  with  this  singular 
being,  as  he  muttered  his  captain's  name  each  time  in  passing, 
though  he  said  no  more  audibly.  The  concerns  of  the  dinner 
carried  him  back  and  forth ;  and  in  his  last  visit  to  the  tent, 
he  began  to  set  a  small  table — one  that  had  been  brought  for 
the  convenience  of  Mrs.  Budd  and  her  niece,  from  the  brig, 
and  which  of  course  still  remained  on  the  islet.  Tt  was  while 
thus  occupied,  that  Jack  Tier  recommenced  his  soliloquy. 

"  I  hope  that  money  may  do  some  worthy  fellow  good  yet. 
It's  Mexican  gold,  and  that's  inemy's  gold,  and  might  be  con- 
demned by  law,  I  do  suppose.  Stephen  had  a  hankerin'  a'ter 
it,  but  he  did  not  get  it.  It  come  easy  enough  to  the  next 
man  that  tried.  That  Spike's  a  willian,  and  the  gold  was  too 
good  for  him.  lie  has  no  conscience  at  all  to  think  of  a  gal 
of  nineteen  !  and  one  fit  for  his  betters,  in  the  bargain.  The 
time  has  been  when  Stephen  Spike  might  have  pretended  to 
Rose  Budd's  equal.  That  much  I'll  ever  maintain,  but  that 
time's  gone ;  and,  what  is  more,  it  will  never  come  again.  I 
should  like  Mulford  better  if  he  had  a  little  less  conscience. 
Conscience  may  do  for  Uncle  Sam's  ships,  but  it  is  sometimes 
in  the  way  aboard  a  trading  craft.  What  can  a  fellow  do  with 
a  conscience  when  dollars  is  to  be  smuggled  off,  or  tobacco 
smuggled  ashore  ?  I  do  suppose  I've  about  as  much  conscience 
as  it  is  useful  to  have,  and  I've  got  ashore  in  my  day  twenty 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stuff,  of  one  sort  or  another,  if  I've 
got  ashore  the  valie  of  ten  dollars.  But  Spike  carries  on 
business  on  too  large  a  scale,  and  many's  the  time  I've  told 
him  so.     I  could  have  forgiven  him  any  thing  but  this  attempt 


208  JACK     TIE  H. 

on  Rose  Budd ;  and  he's  altogether  too  old  for  that,  to  say  no- 
thing of  other  people's  rights.  He's  an  up-and-down  willian. 
and  a  body  can  make  no  more,  nor  any  less  of  him.  That  soup 
must  be  near  done,  and  I'll  hoist  the  signal  for  grub." 

This  signal  was  a  blue-peter  of  which  one  had  been  brought 
ashore  to  signal  the  brig ;  and  with  which  Jack  now  signalled 
the  schooner.  If  the  reader  will  turn  his  eyes  towards  the  last 
named  vessel,  he  will  find  the  guests  whom  Tier  expected  to 
surround  his  table.  Rose,  her  aunt,  and  Biddy  w-ere  all  seated, 
dnder  an  awning  made  by  a  sail,  on  the  deck  of  the  schooner, 
which  now  floated  so  buoyantly  as  to  show  that  she  had  materi- 
ally lightened  since  last  seen.  Such  indeed  was  the  fact,  and 
he  who  had  been  the  instrument  of  producing  this  chauge,  ap- 
peared on  deck  in  the  person  of  Mulford,  as  soon  as  he  was  told 
that  the  blue-peter  of  Jack  Tier  was  flying. 

The  boat  of  the  lighthouse,  that  in  which  Spike  had  lauded 
in  quest  of  Rose,  was  lying  alongside  of  the  schooner,  and  suffi- 
ciently explained  the  manner  in  which  the  mate  had  left  the 
brig.  This  boat,  in  fact,  had  been  fastened  astern,  in  the  hurry 
of  getting  from  under  the  sloop-of-war's  fire,  and  Mulford  had 
taken  the  opportunity  of  the  consternation  and  frantic  efforts 
produced  by  the  explosion  of  the  last  shell  thrown,  to  descend 
from  his  station  on  the  coach-house  into  this  boat,  to  cut  the 
painter,  and  to  let  the  Swash  glide  away  from  him.  This  the 
vessel  had  done  with  great  rapidity,  leaving  him  unseen  under 
the  cover  of  her  stern.  As  soon  as  in  the  boat,  the  mate  had 
seized  an  oar,  and  sculled  to  an  islet  that  was  within  fifty  yards, 
concealing  the  boat  behind  a  low  hummock  that  formed  a  tiny 
bay.  All  this  was  done  so  rapidly,  that,  united  to  the  confusion 
on  board  the  Swash,  no  one  discovered  the  mate  or  the  boat 
Had  he  been  seen,  however,  it  is  very  little  probable  that  Spike 
would  have  lost  a  moment  of  time,  in  the  attempt  to  recover 
either.  But  he  was  not  seen,  and  it  was  the  general  opinion  on 
board  the  Swash,  for  quite  an  hour,  that  her  handsome  mate 
had  been  knocked  overboard  and  killed,  by  a  fragment  of  the 


JACK     T  I  E  R  .  209 

6hell  that  had  seemed  to  explode  almost  in  the  ears  of  her  people. 
When  the  reef  was  doubled,  however,  and  Spike  made  his  pre- 
parations for  meeting  the  rough  water,  he  hove  to,  and  ordered 
his  own  yawl,  which  was  also  towing  astern,  to  be  hauled  up 
alongside,  in  order  to  be  hoisted  in.  Then,  indeed,  some  glim- 
merings of  the  truth  were  shed  on  the  crew,  who  missed  the 
lighthouse  boat.  Though  many  contended  that  its  painter 
must  also  have  been  cut  by  a  fragment  of  the  shell,  and  that 
the  mate  had  died  loyal  to  roguery  and  treason.  Mulford  was 
much  liked  by  the  crew,  and  he  was  highly  valued  by  Spike, 
on  account  of  his  seamauship  and  integrity,  this  latter  being  a 
quality  that  is  just  as  necessary  for  one  of  the  captain's  charac- 
ter to  meet  with  in  those  he  trusts,  as  to  any  other  man.  But 
Spike  thought  differently  of  the  cause  of  Mulford's  disappear- 
ance, from  his  crew.  lie  ascribed  it  altogether  to  love  for  Rose, 
when,  in  truth,  it  ought  in  justice  to  have  been  quite  as  much 
imputed  to  a  determination  to  sail  no  longer  with  a  man  who 
was  clearly  guilty  of  treason.  Of  smuggling,  Mulford  had  long 
suspected  Spike,  though  he  had  no  direct  proof  of  the  fact ;  but 
now  he  could  not  doubt  that  he  was  not  only  engaged  in  sup- 
plying the  enemy  with  the  munitions  of  war,  but  was  actually 
bargaining  to  sell  his  brig  for  a  hostile  cruiser,  and  possibly  to 
transfer  himself  and  crew  along  with  her. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  speak  of  the  welcome  Mulford  re- 
ceived when  he  reached  the  islet  of  the  tent.  He  and  Rose  had 
a  long  private  conference,  the  result  of  which  was  to  let  the 
handsome  mate  into  the  secret  of  his  pretty  companion's  true 
feelings  towards  himself.  She  had  received  him  with  tears,  and 
a  betrayal  of  emotion  that  gave  him  every  encouragement,  and 
now  she  did  not  deny  her  preference.  In  that  interview  the 
young  people  plighted  to  each  other  their  troth.  Rose  never 
doubted  of  obtaining  her  aunt's  consent  in  due  time,  all  her  preju- 
dices being  in  favor  of  the  sea,  and  sailors ;  and  should  she  not, 
she  would  soon  be  her  own  mistress,  and  at  liberty  to  dispose 
of  herself  and  her  pretty  little  fortune  as  she  might  choose 


210  "  JACK     TIER. 

But  a  cipher  as  she  was,  in  all  questions  of  real  moment,  Mrs. 
Budd  was  not  a  person  likely  to  throw  any  real  obstacle  in  the 
way  of  the  young  people's  wishes ;  the  true  grounds  of  whose 
present  apprehensions  were  all  to  be  referred  to  Spike,  his  inten- 
tions, and  his  well-known  perseverance.  Mulford  was  convinced 
that  the  brig  would  be  back  in  quest  of  the  remaining  doubloons, 
as  soon  as  she  could  get  clear  of  the  sloop-of-war,  though  he 
was  not  altogether  without  a  hope  that  the  latter,  when  she 
found  it  impossible  to  overhaul  her  chase,  might  also  return,  in 
order  to  ascertain  what  discoveries  could  be  made  in  and  about 
the  schooner.  The  explosion  of  the  powder,  on  the  islet,  must 
have  put  the  man-of-war's  men  in  possession  of  the  secret  of  the 
real  quality  of  the  flour  that  had  composed  her  cargo,  and  it 
doubtless  had  awakened  all  their  distrust  on  the  subject  of  the 
Swash's  real  business  in  the  Gulf.  Under  all  the  circumstances, 
therefore,  it  did  appear  quite  as  probable  that  one  of  the  par- 
ties should  reappear  at  the  scene  of  their  recent  interview  as 
the  other. 

Bearing  all  these  things  in  mind,  Mulford  had  lost  no  time 
in  completing  his  own  arrangements.  lie  felt  that  he  had  some 
atonement  to  make  to  the  country,  for  the  part  he  had  seem- 
ingly taken  in  the  late  events :  and  it  occurred  to  him,  could  he 
put  the  schooner  in  a  state  to  be  moved,  then  place  her  in  the 
hands  of  the  authorities,  his  own  peace  would  be  made,  and  his 
character  cleared.  Rose  no  sooner  understood  his  plans  and 
motives,  than  she  entered  into  them  with  all  the  ardor  and  self- 
devotion  of  her  sex ;  for  the  single  hour  of  confidential  and 
frank  communication  which  had  just  passed,  doubled  the  interest 
she  felt  in  Mulford,  and  in  all  that  belonged  to  him.  Jack  Tier 
was  useful  on  board  a  vessel,  though  his  want  of  stature  and 
force  rendered  him  less  so  than  was  common  with  sea-faring 
men.  His  proper  sphere,  certainly,  had  been  the  cabins,  where 
his  usefulness  was  beyond  all  cavil ;  but  he  was  now  very  ser- 
viceable to  Mulford  on  the  deck  of  the  schooner.  The  first  two 
days,  Mrs.  Budd  had  been  left  on  the  islet,  to  look  to  the  con- 


JACK     TIER.  211 

cerns  of  the  kitchen,  while  Mulford,  accompanied  by  Rose, 
Biddy,  and  Jack  Tier,  had  gone  off  to  the  schooner,  and  set 
her  pumps  in  motion  again.  It  was  little  that  Rose  could  do, 
or  indeed  attempt  to  do,  at  this  toil ;  but  the  pumps  being 
small  and  easily  worked,  Biddy  and  Jack  wex*e  of  great  ser- 
vice. By  the  end  of  the  second  day  the  pumps  sucked;  the 
cargo  that  remained  in  the  schooner,  as  well  as  the  form  of  her 
bottom,  contributing  greatly  to  lessen  the  quantity  of  the  water 
that  was  to  be  got  out  of  her. 

Then  it  was  that  the  doubloons  fell  into  Multord's  hands, 
along  with  every  thing  else  that  remained  below  decks.  It 
was  perhaps  fortunate  that  the  vessel  was  thoroughly  purified 
by  her  immersion,  and  the  articles  that  were  brought  on  deck 
to  be  dried  were  found  in  a  condition  to  give  no  great  offence 
to  those  who  removed  them.  By  leaving  the  hatches  off,  and 
the  cabin  doors  open,  the  warm  winds  of  the  trades  effectually 
dried  the  interior  of  the  schooner  in  the  course  of  a  single 
night ;  and  when  Mulford  repaired  on  board  of  her,  on  the 
morning  of  the  third  day,  he  found  her  in  a  condition  to  be 
fitted  for  his  purposes.  On  this  occasion  Mrs.  Budd  had  ex- 
pressed a  wish  to  go  off  to  look  at  her  future  accommodations, 
and  Jack  was  left  on  the  islet  to  cook  the  dinner,  which  will 
explain  the  actual  state  of  things  as  described  in  the  opening 
of  this  chapter. 

As  those  who  toil  usually  have  a  relish  for  their  food,  the 
appearance  of  the  blue-peter  was  far  from  being  unwelcome 
to  those  on  board  of  the  schooner.  They  got  into  the  boat, 
and  were  sculled  ashore  by  Mulford,  who,  seaman-like,  used 
ouly  one  hand  in  performing  this  service.  In  a  very  few 
minutes  they  were  all  seated  at  the  little  table,  which  was 
brought  out  into  the  tent-verandah  for  the  enjoyment  of  the 
breeze. 

"  So  far,  well,"  said  Mulford,  after  his  appetite  was  mainly 
appeased ;  Rose  picking  crumbs,  and  affecting  to  eat,  merely 
to  have  the  air  of  keeping  him  companv ;  one  of  the  minor 


212  JACIi     TIER. 

proofs  of  the  little  attentions  that  spring  from  the  affections. 
"  So  far,  well.  The  sails  are  bent,  and  though  they  might  be 
newer  and  better,  they  can  be  made  to  answer.  It  was  fortu- 
nate to  find  any  thing  like  a  second  suit  on  board  a  Mexican 
craft  of  that  size  at  all.  As  it  is,  we  have  foresail,  mainsail, 
and  jib,  and  with  that  canvas  I  think  we  might  beat  the 
schooner  down  to  Key  West  in  the  course  of  a  day  and  a 
night.  If  I  dared  to  venture  outside  of  the  reef,  it  might  be 
done  sooner  even,  for  they  tell  me  there  is  a  four-knot  current 
sometimes  in  that  track ;  but  I  do  not  like  to  venture  outside, 
so  short-handed.  The  current  inside  must  serve  our  turn,  and 
we  shall  get  smooth  water  by  keeping  under  the  lee  of  the 
rocks.  I  only  hope  we  shall  not  get  into  an  eddy  as  we  go 
further  from  the  end  of  the  reef,  and  into  the  bight  of  the  coast." 

"  Is  there  danger  of  that  ?"  demanded  Rose,  whose  quick 
intellect  had  taught  her  many  of  these  things,  since  her  ac- 
quaintance with  vessels.  . 

"  There  may  be,  looking  at  the  formation  of  the  reef  and 
islands,  though  I  know  nothing  of  the  fact  by  actual  observa- 
tion.    This  is  my  first  visit  in  this  quarter." 

"  Eddies  arc  serious  matters,"  put  in  Mrs.  Budd,  "  and  uiy 
poor  husband  could  not  abide  them.  Tides  are  good  things, 
but  eddies  are  very  disagreeable." 

"  Well,  aunty,  I  should  think  eddies  might  sometimes  be  as 
welcome  as  tides.  It  must  depend,  however,  very  much  on 
the  way  one  wishes  to  go." 

"Rose,  you  surprise  me!  All  that  you  have  read,  and  all 
that  you  have  heard,  must  have  shown  you  the  difference. 
Do  they  not  say  'a  man  is  floating  with  the  tide,'  when  things 
are  prosperous  with  him — and  don't  ships  drop  down  with  the 
tide,  and  beat  the  wind  with  the  tide?  And  don't  vessels 
sometimes  'tide  it  up  to  town,'  as  it  is  called,  and  isn't  it 
thought  an  advantage  to  have  the  tide  with  you?" 

"  All  very  true,  aunty ,  but  I  do  not  sec  how  that  makes 
eddies  any  the  worse." 


JACK      TIER.  213 

"Because  eddies  are  the  opposite  of  tides,  child.  When 
the  tide  goes  one  way,  the  eddy  goes  another — isn't  it  so, 
Harry  Mulford?  You  never  heard  of  one's  floating  in  an 
eddy." 

"  That's  what  we  mean  by  an  eddy,  Mrs.  Budd,"  answered 
the  handsome  mate,  delighted  to  hear  Rose's  aunt  call  him  by 
an  appellation  so  kind  and  familiar, — a  thing  she  had  never 
done  previously  to  the  intercourse  which  had  been  the  conse- 
quence of  their  present  situation.  "  Though  I  agree  with  Rose 
in  thinking  an  eddy  may  be  a  good  or  a  bad  thing,  and  very 
much  like  a  tide,  as  one  wishes  to  steer." 

"You  amaze  me,  both  of  you  !  Tides  are  always  spoken  of 
favorably,  but  eddies  never.  If  a  ship  gets  ashore,  the  tide 
can  float  her  off;  that  I've  heard  a  thousand  times.     Then, 

what  do  the  newspapers  say  of  President ,  and  Governor 

,  and  Congressman 1*      Why,  that  they  all  '  float 

in  the  tide  of  public  opinion,'  and  that  must  mean  something 
particularly  good,  as  they  are  always  in  office.  No,  no,  Harry  • 
I'll  acknowledge  that  you  do  know  something  about  ships ;  a 
good  deal,  considering  how  young  you  are ;  but  you  have 
something  to  learn  about  eddies.  Never  trust  one  as  long  as 
you  live." 

Mulford  was  silent,  and  Rose  took  the  occasion  to  change 
the  discourse. 

"  I  hope  we  shall  soon  be  able  to  quit  this  place,"  she 
said ;  "  for  I  confess  to  some  dread  of  Captain  Spike's  return." 

"  Captain  Stephen  Spike  has  greatly  disappointed  me,"  ob- 
served the  aunt,  gravely.  "  I  do  not  know  that  I  was  ever 
before  deceived  in  judging  a  person.  I  could  have  sworn  he 
was  an  honest,  frank,  well-meaning  sailor — a  character,  of  all 
others,  that  I  love  ;  but  it  has  turred  out  otherwise." 

"He's  a  willian  !"  muttered  Jack  Tier. 

Mulford  smiled ;  at  which  speech,  we  must  leave  to  conjec- 

*  We  suppress  the  names  used  by  Mrs.  Budd,  oul  of  delicacy  to  the  individuals 
mentioned,  who  are  still  living. 


214  JACK     TIER. 

ture ;  but  he  answered  Rose,  as  he  ever  did,  promptly  and  -with 
pleasure. 

"The  schooner  is  ready,  and  this  must  be  our  last  meal 
ashore,"  he  said.  "  Our  outfit  will  be  no  great  matter ;  but  if 
\t  will  carry  us  down  to  Key  West,  I  shall  ask  no  more  of  it. 
As  for  the  return  of  the  Swash,  I  look  upon  it  as  certain.  She 
could  easily  get  clear  of  the  sloop-of-war,  with  the  start  she  had, 
and  Spike  is  a  man  that  never  yet  abandoned  a  doubloon,  when 
he  knew  where  one  was  to  be  found." 

"  Stephen  Spike  is  like  all  his  fellow-creatures,"  put  in  Jack 
Tier  pointedly.     "  He  has  his  faults,  and  he  has  his  virtues." 

"  Virtue  is  a  term  I  should  never  think  of  applying  to  such  a 
man,"  returned  Mulford,  a  little  surprised  at  the  fellow's  earnest- 
ness. "  The  word  is  a  big  one,  and  belongs  to  quite  another 
class  of  persons."  Jack  muttered  a  few  syllables  that  were  un- 
intelligible, when  again  the  conversation  changed. 

Rose  now  inquired  of  Mulford  as  to  their  prospects  of  getting 
to  Key  West.  lie  told  her  that  the  distance  was  about  sixty 
miles ;  their  route  lying  along  the  north  or  inner  side  of  the 
Florida  Reef.  The  whole  distance  was  to  be  made  against  the 
trade-wind,  which  was  then  blowing  about  an  eight-knot  breeze, 
though,  bating  eddies,  they  might  expect  to  be  favored  with 
the  current,  which  was  less  strong  inside  than  outside  of  the 
reef.  As  for  handling  the  schooner,  Mulford  saw  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  that.  She  was  not  large,  aud  was  both  lightly  sparred 
and  lightly  rigged.  All  her  top-hamper  had  been  taken  down 
by  Spike,  and  nothing  remained  but  the  plainest  and  most 
readily-managed  gear.  A  fore-and-aft  vessel,  sailing  close  by 
the  wind,  is  not  difficult  to  steer ;  will  almost  steer  herself,  in- 
deed, in  smooth  water.  Jack  Tier  could  take  his  trick  at  the 
helm,  in  any  weather,  even  in  running  before  the  wind,  the 
time  when  it  is  most  difficult  to  guide  a  craft,  and  Rose  might 
be  made  to  understand  the  use  of  the  tiller,  and  taught  to 
govern  the  motions  of  a  vessel  so  small  and  so  simply  rigged, 
when  on  a  wind  and  in  smooth  water.     On  the  score  of  man- 


JACK     TIER.  215 

aging  the  schooner,  therefore,  Mulford  thought  there  would  be 
little  cause  for  apprehension.  Should  the  weather  continue  set- 
tled, he  had  little  doubt  of  safely  landing  the  whole  party  at 
Key  West,  in  the  course  of  the  next  four-and-twenty  hours. 
Short  sail  he  should  be  obliged  to  carry,  as  well  on  account  of 
the  greater  facility  of  managing  it,  as  on  account  of  the  cir- 
cumstance that  the  schooner  was  now  in  light  ballast  trim,  and 
would  not  bear  much  canvas.  lie  thought  that  the  sooner  they 
left  the  islets  the  better,  as  it  would  not  be  long  ere  the  brig 
would  be  seen  hovering  around  the,  spot.  All  these  matters 
were  discussed  as  the  party  still  sat  at  table ;  and  when  they 
left  it,  which  was  a  few  minutes  later,  it  was  to  remove  the 
effects  they  intended  to  carry  away  to  the  boat.  This  was  soon 
done,  both  Jack  Tier  and  Biddy  proving  very  serviceable,  while 
Rose  tripped  backward  and  forward,  with  a  step  elastic  as  a 
gazelle's,  carrying  light  burdens.  In  half  an  hour  the  boat  was 
••eady.  "Here  lies  the  bag  of  doubloons  still,"  said  Mulford, 
smiling.  "  Is  it  to  be  left,  or  sball  we  give  it  up  to  the  admi- 
ralty court  at  Key  West,  and  put  in  a  claim  for  salvage  ?" 

"Better  leave  it  for  Spike,"  said  Jack  unexpectedly.  "Should 
he  come  back,  and  find  the  doubloons,  he  may  be  satisfied,  and 
not  look  for  the  schooner.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  vessel 
is  missing,  he  will  think  that  the  money  is  in  her.  Better  leave 
it  for  old  Stephen." 

"  I  do  not  agree  with  you,  Tier,"  said  Rose,  though  she 
looked  as  amicably  at  the  steward's  assistant,  while  she  thus  op- 
posed his-  opinion,  as  if  anxious  to  persuade  rather  than  coerce. 
"  I  do  not  quite  agree  with  you.  This  money  belongs  to  the 
Spanish  merchant ;  and,  as  we  take  away  with  us  his  vessel,  to 
give  it  up  to  the  authorities  at  Key  West,  I  do  not  think  we 
have  a  right  to  put  his  gold  on  the  shore  and  abandon  it." 

This  disposed  of  the  question.  Mulford  took  the  bag,  and 
carried  it  to  the  boat,  without  waiting  to  ascertain  if  Jack  had 
any  objection;  while  the  whole  party  followed.  In  a  few 
aiinutes  everybody  and  every  thing  in  the  boat  were  transferred 


216  JACK     TIER. 

to  the  deck  of  the  schooner.  As  for  the  tent,  the  old  sails  of 
which  it  was  made,  the  furniture  it  contained,  and  such  articles 
of  provisions  as  were  not  wanted,  they  were  left  on  the  islet, 
without  regret.  The  schooner  had  several  casks  of  fresh  water, 
which  were  found  in  her  hold,  and  she  had  also  a  cask  or  two 
of  salted  meats,  besides  several  articles  of  food  more  delicate, 
that  had  been  provided  by  Senor  Montefalderon  for  his  own  use, 
and  which  had  not  been  damaged  by  the  water.  A  keg  of 
Boston  crackers  were  among  these  eatables,  quite  half  of  which 
were  still  in  a  state  to  be. eaten.  They  were  Biddy's  delight; 
and  it  was  seldom  that  she  could  be  seen  when  not  nibbling  at 
one  of  them.  The  bread  of  the  crew  was  hopelessly  damaged ; 
but  Jack  had  made  an  ample  provision  when  sent  ashore,  and 
there  was  still  a  hundred  barrels  of  the  flour  in  the  schooner's 
hold.  One  of  these  had  been  hoisted  on  deck  by  Mulford,  and 
opened.  The  injured  flour  was  easily  removed,  leaving  a  con- 
siderable quantity  fit  for  the  uses  of  the  kitchen.  As  for  the  keg 
of  gunpowder,  it  was  incontinently  committed  to  the  deep. 

Thus  provided  for,  Mulford  decided  that  the  time  had  ar- 
rived when  he  ought  to  quit  his  anchorage.  He  had  been 
employed  most  of  that  morning  in  getting  the  schooner's 
anchor,  a  work  of  great  toil  to  him,  though  everybody  had 
assisted.  He  had  succeeded,  and  the  vessel  now  rode  by  a 
hedge,  that  he  could  easily  weigh  by  means  of  a  deck  tackle. 
It  remained  now,  therefore,  to  lift  this  hedge  and  to  stand 
out  of  the  bay  of  the  islets.  No  sooner  was  the  boat  secured 
astern,  and  its  freight  disposed  of,  than  the  mate  began  to  make 
sail.  In  order  to  hoist  the  mainsail  well  up,  he  was  obliged  to 
carry  the  halyards  to  the  windlass.  Thus  aided,  he  succeeded 
without  much  difficulty.  He  and  Jack  Tier  and  Biddy  got 
the  jib  hoisted  by  hand ;  and  as  for  the  foresail,  -that  would 
almost  set  itself.  Of  course,  it  was  not  touched  until  the 
hedge  was  aweigh.  Mulford  found  little  difficulty  in  lifting 
the  last,  and  he  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  finding  his  craft 
clear  of  the  ground.     As  Jack  Tier  was  every  way  competent 


JACK     TIER.  217 

to  take  charge  of  the  forecastle,  Mulford  now  sprang  aft,  and 
took  his  own  station  at  the  helm,  Rose  acting  as  his  pretty  as- 
sistant on  the  quarter-deck. 

There  is  little  mystery  in  getting  a  fore-and-aft  vessel  under 
way.  Iler  sails  fill  almost  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  motion 
follows  as  a  necessary  law.  Thus  did  it  prove  with  the  Mexi- 
can schooner,  which  turned  out  to  he  a  fast-sailing  and  an 
easily-worked  craft.  She  was,  indeed,  an  American  bottom,  as 
it  is  termed,  having  been  originally  built  for  the  Chesapeake  ; 
and,  though  not  absolutely  what  is  understood  by  a  Baltimore 
clipper,  so  nearly  of  that  mould  and  nature  as  to  possess  some 
of  the  more  essential  qualities.  As  usually  happens,  however, 
when  a  foreigner  gets  hold  of  an  American  schooner,  the 
Mexicans  had  shortened  her  mast  and  lessened  her  canvas. 
This  circumstance  was  rather  an  advantage  to  Mulford,  who 
would  probably  have  had  more  to  attend  to  than  he  wished 
under  the  original  rig  of  the  craft. 

Everybody,  even  to  the  fastidious  Mrs.  Budd,  was  delighted 
with  the  easy  and  swift  movement  of  the  schooner.  Mulford, 
now  he  had  got  her  under  canvas,  handled  her  without  any 
difficulty,  letting  her  stand  towards  the  channel  through  which 
he  intended  to  pass,  with  her  sheets  just  taken  in,  though 
compelled  to  keep  a  little  off,  in  order  to  enter  between  the 
islets.  No  difficulty  occurred,  however,  and  in  less  than  ten 
minutes  the  vessel  was  clear  of  the  channels,  and  in  open 
water.  The  sheets  were  now  flattened  in,  and  the  schooner 
brought  close  by  the  wind.  A  trial  of  the  vessel  on  this  mode 
of  sailing  was  no  sooner  made,  than  Mulford  was  induced  to 
regret  he  had  taken  so  many  precautions  against  any  increas- 
ing power  of  the  wind.  To  meet  emergencies,  and  under  the 
notion  that  he  should  have  his  craft  more  under  command, 
the  young  man  had  reefed  his  mainsail,  and  taken  the  bonnets 
off  the  foresail  and  jib.  As  the  schooner  stood  up  better  than 
lie  had  anticipated,  the  mate  felt  as  all  seamen  are  so  apt  to 
feel,  when  they  see  that  their  vessels  might  be  made  to  per- 

10 


218  JACK     TIER. 

form  more  than  is  actually  got  out  of  them.  As  the  breeze 
was  fresh,  however,  he  determined  not  to  let  out  the  reef;  and 
the  labor  of  lacing  on  the  bonnets  again  was  too  great  to  be 
thought  of  just  at  that  moment. 

We  all  find  relief  on  getting  in  motion,  when  pressed  by 
circumstances.  Mulford  had  been  in  great  apprehension  of  the 
reappearance  of  the  Swash  all  that  day ;  for  it  was  about  the 
time  when  Spike  would  be  apt  to  return,  in  the  event  of  his 
escaping  from  the  sloop-of-war,  and  he  dreaded  Rose's  again 
falling  into  the  hands  of  a  man  so  desperate.  Nor  is  it  im- 
puting more  than  a  very  natural  care  to  the  young  man,  to  say 
that  he  had  some  misgivings  concerning  himself.  Spike,  by 
this  time,  must  be  convinced  that  his  business  in  the  Gulf  was 
known ;  and  one  who  had  openly  thrown  off  his  service,  as  his 
mate  had  done,  would  unquestionably  be  regarded  as  a  traitor 
to  his  interests,  whatever  might  be  the  relation  in  which  he 
would  stand  to  the  laws  of  the  country.  It  was  probable  such 
an  alleged  offender  would  not  be  allowed  to  appear  before  the 
tribunals  of  the  land,  to  justify  himself  and  to  accuse  the  truly 
guilty,  if  it  were  in  the  power  of  the  last  to  prevent  it.  Great, 
therefore,  was  the  satisfaction  of  our  handsome  young  mate 
when  he  found  himself  again  fairly  in  motion,  with  a  craft 
under  him,  that  glided  ahead  in  a  way  to  prove  that  she  might 
give  even  the  Swash  some  trouble  to  catch  her,  in  the  event 
of  a  trial  of  speed. 

Everybody  entered  into  the  feelings  of  Mulford,  as  the 
schooner  passed  gallantly  out  from  between  the  islets,  and 
entered  the  open  water.  Fathom  by  fathom  did  her  wake 
rapidly  increase,  until  it  could  no  longer  be  traced  back  as  far 
as  the  sandy  beaches  that  had  just  been  left.  In  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  more,  the  vessel  had  drawn  so  far  from  the  land, 
that  some  of  the  smaller  and  lowest  of  the  islets  were  getting 
to  be  indistinct.  At  that  instant  everybody  had  come  aft,  the 
females  taking  their  seats  on  the  trunk,  which,  in  this  vessel 
as  in  the  Swash  herself,  gave  space  and  height  to  the  cabin. 


JACK      TIER.  219 

"Well,"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Budd,  who  found  the  freshness 
of  the  sea  air  invigorating,  as  well  as  their  speed  exciting, 
"  this  is  what  I  call  maritime,  Rosy,  dear.  This  is  what  is 
meant  by  the  Maritime  States,  about  which  we  read  so  much, 
and  which  are  commonly  thought  to  be  so  important.  We 
are  now  in  a  Maritime  State,  and  I  feel  perfectly  happy  after 
all  our  dangers  and  adventures  !" 

"Yes,  aunty,  and  I  am  delighted  that  you  are  happy," 
answered  Rose,  with  frank  affection.  "  We  are  now  rid  of  that 
infamous  Spike,  and  may  hope  never  to  see  his  face  more." 

"  Stephen  Spike  has  his  good  p'ints  as  well  as  another,"  said 
Jack  Tier,  abruptly. 

"  I  know  that  he  is  an  old  shipmate  of  yours,  Tier,  and  that 
you  cannot  forget  how  he  once  stood  connected  with  you,  and 
am  sorry  I  have  said  so  much  against  him,"  answered  Rose, 
expressing  her  concern  even  more  by  her  looks  and  tones  than 
by  her  words. 

Jack  was  mollified  by  this,  and  he  let  his  feeling  be  seen, 
though  be  said  no  more  than  to  mutter,  "He's  a  willian !" 
words  that  had  frequently  issued  from  his  lips  within  the  last 
day  or  two. 

"Stephen  Spike  is  a  capital  seaman,  and  that  is  something 
in  any  man,"  observed  the  relict  of  Captain  Budd.  "  He 
learned  his  trade  from  one  who  was  every  way  qualified  to 
teach  him,  and  it's  no  wonder  he  should  be  expert.  Do  you 
expect,  Mr.  Mulford,  to  beat  the  wind  the  whole  distance  to 
Key  West?" 

It  was  not  possible  for  any  one  to  look  more  grave  than  the 
mate  did  habitually,  while  the  widow  was  floundering  tbrougb 
ber  sea-terms.  Rose  had  taught  him  that  respect  for  her  aunt 
was  to  be  one  of  the  conditions  of  her  own  regard,  though 
Rose  had  never  opened  her  lips  to  him  on  the  subject. 

"Yes,  ma'am,"  answered  the  mate,  respectfully,  "we  are  in 
the  trades,  and  shall  have  to  turn  to  windward,  every  inoh 
of  the  way  to  Key  West." 


220  JACK     TIER. 

"  Of  what  lock  is  this  place  the  key,  Rosy  ?"  asked  the  aunt, 
innocently  enough.  "I  know  that  forts  and  towns  are  some- 
times called  keys,  but  they  always  have  locks  of  some  sort  or 
other.  Now,  Gibraltar  is  the  key  of  the  Mediterranean,  as 
your  uncle  has  told  me  fifty  times  ;  and  I  have  been  there,  and 
can  understand  why  it  should  be, — but  I  do  not  know  of  what 
lock  this  West  is  the  key." 

"  It  is  not  that  sort  of  key  which  is  meant,  aunty,  at  all — 
but  quite  a  different  thing.     The  key  meant  is  an  island." 

"  And  why  should  any  one  be  so  silly  as  to  call  an  island  a 
key?" 

"  The  place  where  vessels  unload  is  sometimes  called  a  key," 
answered  Mulford  : — "  the  French  called  it  a  quai,  and  the 
Dutch  kaye.  I  suppose  our  English  word  is  derived  from 
these.  Now,  a  low,  sandy  island,  looking  somewhat  like  keys, 
or  Avharves,  seamen  have  given  them  this  name.  Key  West  is 
merely  a  low  island." 

"  Then  there  is  no  lock  to  it,  or  any  thing  to  be  unfastened," 
said  the  widow,  in  her  most  simple  manner. 

"It  may  turn  out  to  be  the  key  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  one 
of  these  days,  ma'am.  Uncle  Sam  is  surveying  the  reef,  and 
intends  to  do  something  here,  I  believe.  When  Uncle  Sam 
is  really  in  earnest,  he  is  capable  of  performing  great  things." 

Mrs.  Budd  was  satisfied  with  this  explanation,  though  she 
told  Biddy  that  evening,  that  "  locks  and  keys  go  together, 
and  that  the  person  who  christened  the  island  to  which  they 
were  going,  must  have  been  very  weak  in  his  upper  story." 
But  these  reflections  on  the  intellects  of  her  fellow-creatures 
were  by  no  means  uncommon  with  the  worthy  relict ;  and  we 
cannot  say  that  her  remarks  made  any  particular  impression 
on  her  Irish  maid. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Mexican  schooner  behaved  quite  to 
Mulford's  satisfaction.  He  thought  her  a  little  tender  in  the 
squalls,  cf  which  they  had  several  that  afternoon;  but  he 
remarked  to  Rose,  who  expressed  her  uneasiness  at  the  manner 


JAOK     TIER.  221 

in  which  the  vessel  lay  over  in  one  of  them,  that  "she  conies 
clown  quite  easy  to  her  bearings,  but  it  is  hard  forcing  her 
beyond  them.  The  vessel  needs  more  cargo  to  ballast  her, 
though,  on  the  whole,  I  find  her  as  stiff  as  one  could  expect.  I 
am  now  glad  that  I  reefed,  and  reduced  the  head  sails,  though 
I  was  sorry  at  having  done  so  when  we  first  came  out.  At 
this  rate  of  sailing,  we  ought  to  be  up  with  Key  West  by 
morning." 

But  that  rate  of  sailing  did  not  continue.  Towards  evening, 
the  breeze  lessened  almost  to  a  calm  again,  the  late  tornado 
appearing  to  have  quite  deranged  the  ordinary  stability  of  the 
trades.  When  the  sun  set,  and  it  went  down  into  the  broad 
waters  of  the  Gulf  a  flood  of  flame,  there  was  barely  a  two- 
knot  breeze,  and  Mulford  had  no  longer  any  anxiety  on  the 
subject  of  keeping  his  vessel  on  her  legs.  His  solicitude,  now, 
was  confined  to  the  probability  of  falling  in  with  the  Swash. 
As  yet,  nothing  was  visible,  either  in  the  shape  of  land  or  in 
that  of  a  sail.  Between  the  islets  of  the  Dry  Tortugas  and 
the  next  nearest  visible  keys,  there  is  a  space  of  open  water, 
of  some  forty  miles  in  width.  The  reef  extends  across  it,  of 
course ;  but  nowhere  does  the  rock  protrude  itself  above  the 
surface  of  the  sea.  The  depth  of  water  on  this  reef  varies 
essentially.  In  some  places  a  ship  of  size  might  pass  on  to  it, 
if  not  across  it ;  while  in  others  a  man  could  wade  for  miles. 
There  is  one  deep  and  safe  channel — safe  to  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  it — through  the  centre  of  this  open  space, 
and  which  is  sometimes  used  by  vessels  that  w  ish  to  pass  from 
one  side  to  the  other;  but  it  is  ever  better  for  those  whoso 
business  does  not  call  them  in  that  direction,  to  give  the  rocks 
a  good  berth,  more  especially  in  the  night. 

Mulford  had  gleaned  many  of  the  leading  facts  connected 
with  the  channels,  and  the  navigation  of  those  waters,  from 
Spike  and  the  older  seamen  of  the  brig,  during  the  time  they 
had  been  lying  at  the  Tortugas.  Such  questions  and  answers 
*re  common  enough  on  board  ships,  and,  as  they  are  usual!}' 


JACK     TIER, 


put  and  given  with  intelligence,  one  of  our  mate's  general 
knowledge  of  his  profession,  was  likely  to  carry  away  much 
useful  information.  By  conversations  of  this  nature,  and  by 
consulting  the  charts,  which  Spike  did  not  affect  to  conceal 
after  the  name  of  his  port  became  known,  the  young  man,  in 
fact,  had  so  far  made  himself  master  of  the  subject,  as  to  have 
tolerably  accurate  notions  of  the  courses,  distances,  and  gen- 
eral peculiarities  of  the  reef.  "When  the  sun  went  down,  he 
supposed  himself  to  be  about  half  way  across  the  space  of  open 
water,  and  some  five-and-twenty  miles  dead  to  windward  of 
his  port  of  departure.  This  was  doing  very  well  for  the  cir- 
cumstances, and  Mulford  believed  himself  and  his  companions 
clear  of  Spike,  when,  as  night  drew  its  veil  over  the  tranquil 
sea,  nothing  was  in  sight. 

A  very  judicious  arrangement  was  made  for  the  watches 
on  board  the  Mexican  schooner,  on  this  important  night.  Mrs. 
Budd  had  a  great  fancy  to  keep  a  watch,  for  once  in  her  life, 
and,  after  the  party  had  supped,  and  the  subject  came  up  in 
the  natural  course  of  things,  a  dialogue  like  this  occurred : 

"  Harry  must  be  fatigued,"  said  Bose,  kindly,  "  and  must 
want  sleep.  The  wind  is  so  light,  and  the  weather  appears  to 
be  so  settled,  that  I  think  it  would  be  better  for  him  to  '  turn 
in,'  as  he  calls  it ;" — here  Bose  laughed  so  prettily  that  the 
handsome  mate  wished  she  would  repeat  the  words, — "better 
that  he  should  'turn  in'  now,  and  we  can  call  him  should  there 
be  need  of  his  advice  or  assistance.  I  dare  say  Jack  Tier  and 
I  can  take  very  good  care  of  the  schooner  until  daylight." 

Mrs.  Budd  thought  it  would  be  no  more  than  proper  for 
one  of  her  experience  and  years  to  rebuke  this  levity,  as  well 
as  to  enlighten  the  ignorance  her  niece  had  betrayed. 

"  You  should  be  cautious,  my  child,  how  you  propose  any 
thing  to  be  done  on  a  ship's  board,"  observed  the  aunt.  "It 
requires  great  experience  and  a  suitable  knowledge  of  rigging 
to  give  maritime  advice.  Now,  as  might  have  been  expected, 
considering  your  years,  and  the  short  time  you  have  been  at 


J  A  ('  K      T  1  B  R.  223 

sea,  you  have  made  several  serious  mistakes  in  what  you  have 
proposed.  Iu  the  first  place,  there  should  always  be  a  nute 
on  the  deck,  as  I  have,  heard  your  dear  departed  uncle  say, 
again  and  again ;  and  how  can  there  be  a  mate  on  the  deck 
if  Mr.  Mulford  '  turns  in,'  as  you  propose,  seeing  that  he's  the 
only  mate  we  have  ?  Then  you  should  never  laugh  at  any 
maritime  expression,  for  each  and  all  are,  as  a  body  might 
say,  solemnized  by  storms  and  dangers.  That  Harry  is  fa- 
tigued, I  think  is  very  probable ;  and  he  must  set  our  watches, 
as  they  call  it,  when  he  can  make  his  arrangements  for  the 
night,  and  take  his  rest  as  is  usual.  Here  is  my  watch  to  be- 
gin writh ;  and  I'll  engage  he  does  not  find  it  two  minutes  out 
of  the  way,  though  yours,  Rosy  dear,  like  most  girl's  time- 
pieces, is,  I'll  venture  to  say,  dreadfully  wrong.  "Where  is 
your  chronometer,  Mr.  Mulford  ?  Let  us  see  how  this  excellent 
watch  of  mine,  which  was  once  my  poor  departed  Mr.  Budd's, 
will  agree  with  that  piece  of  yours,  which  I  have  heard  you 
say  is  excellent." 

Here  was  a  flight  in  science  and  nautical  language  that  poor 
Mulford  could  not  have  anticipated,  even  in  the  captain's  relict ! 
That  Mrs.  Budd  should  mistake  "  setting  the  watch"  for  "  set- 
ting our  watches,"  was  not  so  very  violent  a  blunder  that  one 
ought  to  be  much  astonished  at  it  in  her  ;  but  that  she  should 
expect  to  find  a  chronometer  that  was  intended  to  keep  the 
time  of  Greenwich,  agreeing  with  a  watch  that  was  set  for 
the  time  of  New  York,  betrayed  a  degree  of  ignorance  that 
the  handsome  mate  was  afraid  Rose  would  resent  on  him, 
when  the  mistake  was  made  to  appear.  As  the  widow  held 
out  her  own  watch  for  the  comparison,  however,  he  could  not 
refuse  to  produce  his  own.  By  Mrs.  Budd's  watch  it  was  past 
seven  o'clock,  while  by  his  own,  or  the  Greenwich-set  chro- 
nometer, it  was  a  little  past  twelve. 

"  How  very  wrong  your  watch  is,  Mr.  Mulford,"  cried  the 
good  lady,  "notwithstanding  all  you  have  said  in  its  favor! 
It's  quite  five  hours  too  fast,  I  do  declare ;  and  now,  Rosy 


224  JACK      TIER. 

dear,  you  see  the  importance  of  setting  watch-es  on  a  ship's 
board,  as  is  done  every  evening,  my  departed  husband  has 
often  told  me." 

"Harry's  must  be  what  he  calls  a  dog-watch,  aunty,"  said 
Rose,  laughing,  though  she  scarce  knew  at  what. 

"  The  watch  goes,  too,"  added  the  widow,  raising  the  chro- 
nometer to  her  ear,  "  though  it  is  so  very  wrong.  "Well,  set 
it,  Mr.  Mulford  ;  then  we  will  set  Rose's,  which  I'll  engage  is 
half  an  hour  out  of  the  way,  though  it  can  never  be  as  wrong 
as  yours." 

Mulford  was  a  good  deal  embarrassed,  but  he  gained  cour- 
age by  looking  at  Rose,  who  appeared  to  him  to  be  quite  as 
much  mystified  as  her  aunt.  For  once  he  hoped  Rose  was 
ignorant ;  for  nothing  would  be  so  likely  to  diminish  the  feel- 
ing produced  by  the  exposure  of  the  aunt's  mistake,  as  to  in- 
clude the  niece  in  the  same  category. 

"My  watch  is  a  chronometer,  you  will  recollect,  Mrs.  B-udd," 
said  the  young  man. 

"  I  know  it ;  and  they  ought  to  keep  the  very  best  time — 
that  I've  always  heard.  My  poor  Mr.  Budd  had  two,  and 
they  were  as  large  as  compasses,  and  sold  for  hundreds  after 
his  lamented  decease." 

"  They  were  ship's  chronometers,  but  mine  was  made  for 
the  pocket.  It  is  true,  chronometers  are  intended  to  keep  the 
most  accurate  time,  and  usually  they  do ;  this  of  mine,  in  par- 
ticular, would  not  lose  ten  seconds  in  a  twelvemonth,  did  I  not 
carry  it  on  my  person." 

"  No,  no,  it  does  not  seem  to  lose  any,  Harry ;  it  only  gains," 
cried  Rose,  laughing. 

Mulford  was  now  satisfied,  notwithstanding  all  that  had 
passed  on  a  previous  occasion,  that  the  laughing,  bright-eyed, 
and  quick-witted  girl  at  his  elbow,  knew  no  more  of  the  uses 
of  a  chronometer  than  her  unusually  dull  and  ignorant  aunt ; 
and  he  felt  himself  relieved  from  all  embarrassment  at  once. 
Though  he  dared  not  even  seem  to  distrust  Mrs.  Budd's  in'tel- 


JACK     TIER.  220 

lect  or  knowledge  before  Rose,  he  did  not  scruple  to  laugh  at 
Rose  herself,  to  Rose.  With  her  there  was  no  jealousy  on  the 
Bcore  of  capacity,  her  quickness  being  almost  as  obvious  to  all 
who  approached  her  as  her  beauty. 

"Rose  Budd,  you  do  not  understand  the  uses  of  a  chro- 
nometer, I  see,"  said  the  mate,  firmly,  "notwithstanding  all 
I  have  told  you  concerning  them." 

"  It  is  to  keep  time,  Harry  Mulford,  is  it  not  ?" 

"  True,  to  keep  time — but  to  keep  the  time  of  a  particular 
meridian  ;  you  know  what  a  meridian  means,  I  hope  ?" 

Rose  looked  intently  at  her  lover,  and  she  looked  singularly 
lovely,  for  she  blushed  slightly,  though  her  smile  was  as  open 
and  amicable  as  ingenuousness  and  affection  could  make  it. 

"A  meridian  means  a  point  over  our  heads — the  spot  where 
tue  sun  is  at  noon,"  said  Rose,  doubtingly. 

"  Quite  right ;  but  it  also  means  longitude,  in  one  sense.  If 
P'ou  draw  a  line  from  one  pole  to  the  other,  all  the  places  it 
crosses  are  on  the  same  meridian.  As  the  sun  first  appears 
in  the  east,  it  follows  that  he  rises  sooner  in  places  that  are 
east,  than  in  places  that  are  farther  west.  Thus  it  is,  that  at 
Greenwich,  in  England,  where  there  is  an  observatory  made 
for  nautical  purposes,  the  sun  rises  about  five  hoars  sooner  than 
it  does  here.  All  this  difference  is  subject  to  rules,  and  we 
know  exactly  how  to  measure  it." 

"  How  can  that  be,  Harry  ?  You  told  me  this  but  the  other 
day,  yet  I  have  forgotten  it." 

"  Quite  easily.  As  the  earth  turns  round  in  just  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  its  circumference  is  divided  into  three  hundred 
and  sixty  equal  parts,  called  degrees,  we  have  only  to  divide 
360  by  24,  to  know  how  many  of  these  degrees  are  included 
in  the  difference  produced  by  one  hour  of  time.  There  are 
just  fifteen  of  them,  as  you  will  find  by  multiplying  24  by  15. 
It  follows  that  the  sun  rises  just  one  hour  later,  each  fifteen 
degrees  of  longitude,  as  you  go  west,  or  one  hour  earlier  each 
fifteen  degrees  of  longitude,  as  you  go  east.     Having  ascer- 


226  JACK     TIER. 

tained  the  difference  by  the  hour,  it  is  eas}r  enough  to  calcu- 
late for  the  minutes  and  seconds." 

"  Yes,  3Tes,"  said  Rose,  eagerly,  "  I  see  all  that — go  on." 

"  Now  a  chronometer  is  nothing  but  a  watch,  made  with 
great  care,  so  as  not  to  lose  or  gain  more  than  a  few  seconds 
in  a  twelvemonth.  Its  whole  merit  is  in  keeping  time  accu- 
rately." 

"  Still  I  do  not  see  how  that  can  be  any  thing  more  than  a 
verv  good  watch." 

"  You  will  see  in  a  minute,  Rose.  For  purposes  that  you 
will  presently  understand,  books  are  calculated  for  certain 
meridians,  or  longitudes,  as  at  Greenwich  and  Paris ;  and  those 
who  use  the  books  calculated  for  Greenwich,  get  their  chro- 
nometers set  at  Greenwich ;  and  those  who  use  the  Paris,  get 
their  chronometers  set  to  Paris  time.  When  I  was  last  in 
England,  I  took  this  watch  to  Greenwich,  and  had  it  set  at  the 
Observatory  by  the  true  solar  time.  Ever  since  it  has  been 
running  by  that  time,  and  what  you  see  here  is  the  true  Green- 
wich time,  after  allowing  for  a  second  or  two  that  it  may  have 
lost  or  gained." 

"  All  that  is  plain  enough,"  said  the  much  interested  Rose — 
"  but  of  what  use  is  it  all  V 

"  To  help  mariners  to  find  their  longitude  at  sea,  and  thus 
know  where  they  are.  As  the  sun  passes  so  far  north,  and  so 
far  south  of  the  equator  each  year,  it  is  easy  enough  to  find 
the  latitude,  by  observing  his  position  at  noonday ;  but  for  a 
long  time  seamen  had  great  difficulty  in  ascertaining  their 
longitudes.  That,  too,  is  done  by  observing  the  different 
heavenly  bodies,  and  with  greater  accuracy  than  by  any  other 
process  ,  but  this  thought  of  measuring  the  time  is  very  simple, 
and  so  easily  put  in  practice,  that  we  all  run  by  it  now." 

"  Still  I  cannot  understand  it,"  said  Rose,  looking  so  intently, 
so  eagerly,  and  so  intelligently  into  the  handsome  mate's  eyes, 
that  he  found  it  was  pleasant  to  teach  her  other  things  beside.'' 
how  to  love. 


JACK     TIER.  227 

"  I  will  explain  it.  Having  the  Greenwich  time  in  the  watch, 
we  observe  the  sun,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  true  time, 
wherever  we  may  happen  to  be.  It  is  a  simple  thing  to  ascer- 
tain the  true  time  of  day  by  an  observation  of  the  sun,  which 
marks  the  hours  in  his  track ;  and  when  we  get  our  observa- 
tion, we  haye  some  one  to  note  the  time  at  a  particular  instant 
on  the  chronometer.  By  noting  the  hour,  minutes,  and  seconds, 
at  Greenwich,  at  the  very  instant  we  observe  here,  wdien  we 
have  calculated  from  tbat  observation  the  time  here,  we  have 
only  to  add  or  subtract  the  time  here  from  that  of  Greenwich, 
to  know  precisely  how  far  east  or  west  we  are  from  Greenwicb, 
which  gives  us  our  longitude." 

"  I  begin  to  comprehend  it  again,"  exclaimed  Rose,  delighted 
at  the  acquisition  in  knowledge  she  had  just  made.  "  How 
beautiful  it  is,  yet  how  simple ! — but  why  do  I  forget  it  ?" 

"  Perfectly  simple  and  perfectly  sure,  too,  when  the  chro- 
nometer is  accurate,  and  the  observations  are  nicely  made.  It 
is  seldom  we  are  more  than  eight  or  ten  miles  out  of  the  way, 
and  for  them  we  keep  a  look-out.  It  is  only  .to  ascertain  the 
time  where  you  are,  by  means  that  are  easily  used,  then  look 
at  your  watch  to  learn  the  time  of  day  at  Greenwich,  or  any 
other  meridian  you  may  have  selected,  and  to  calculate  your 
distance,  east  or  west,  from  that  meridian,  by  the  difference  in 
the  two  times." 

Rose  could  have  listened  all  night,  for  her  quick  mind 
readily  comprehended  the  principle  which  lies  at  the  bottom 
of  this  useful  process,  though  still  ignorant  of  some  of  the 
details.  This  time  she  wTas  determined  to  secure  her  acquisi- 
tions, though  it  is  quite  probable  that,  woman-like,  they  were 
once  more  lost,  almost  as  easily  as  made.  Mulford,  however, 
was  obliged  to  leave  her,  to  luok  at  the  vessel,  before  he 
stretched  himself  on  the  deck,  in  an  old  sail;  it  having  been 
previously  determined  that  he  should  sleep  first,  while  the  wind 
was  light,  and  that  Jack  Tier,  assisted  by  the  females,  should 
keep  the  first  watch.     Rose  would  not  detain  the  mate,  there- 


228  JACK     TIER. 

fore,  but  let  him  go  his  way,  in  order  to  see  that  all  was  right 
before  he  took  his  rest. 

Mrs.  Budd  had  listened  to  Mulford's  second  explanation  of 
the  common  mode  of  ascertaining  the  longitude,  "with  all  the 
attention  of  which  she  was  capable ;  but  it  far  exceeded  the 
powers  of  her  mind  to  comprehend  it.  There  are  persons  who 
accustom  themselves  to  think  so  superficially,  that  it  becomes 
a  painful  process  to  attempt  to  dive  into  any  of  the  arcana 
of  nature,  and  who  ever  turn  from  such  investigations  wearied 
and  disgusted.  Many  of  these  persons,  perhaps  most  of  them, 
need  only  a  little  patience  and  perseverance  to  comprehend 
all  the  more  familiar  phenomena,  but  they  cannot  command 
even  that  much  of  the  two  qualities  named  to  obtain  the 
knowledge  they  would  fain  wish  to  possess.  Mrs.  Budd  did 
not  belong  to  a  division  as  high  in  the  intellectual  scale  as 
even  this  vapid  class.  Her  intellect  was  unequal  to  embracing 
any  thing  of  an  abstracted  character,  and  only  received  the 
most  obvious  impressions,  and  those  quite  half  the  time  it  re- 
ceived wrong.  The  mate's  reasoning,  therefore,  was  not  only 
inexplicable  to  her,  but  it  sounded  absurd  and  impossible. 

"  Rosy,  dear,"  said  the  worthy  relict,  as  soon  as  she  saw 
Mulford  stretch  his  fine  frame  on  his  bed  of  canvas,  speaking 
at  the  same  time  in  a  low,  confidential  tone  to  her  niece,  "  what 
was  it  that  Harry  was  telling  you  a  little  while  ago  ?  It 
sounded  to  me  like  rank  nonsense  ;  and  men  will  talk  nonsense 
to  young  girls,  as  I  have  so  often  warned  you,  child.  You 
must  never  listen  to  their  nonsense,  Rosy ;  but  remember  your 
catechism  and  confirmation  vow,  and  be  a  good  girl." 

To  how  many  of  the  feeble-minded  and  erring  do  those 
offices  of  the  Church  prove  a  stay  and  support,  when  their 
own  ordinary  powers  of  resistance  would  fail  them  !  Rose, 
however,  viewed  the  matter  just  as  it  was,  and  answered  ac- 
cordingly. 

"  But  this  was  nothing  of  that  nature,-  aunty,"  she  said, 
"  and  only  an  account  of  the  mode  of  finding  out  where  a  ship 


JACK      TIER.  229 

is  when  out  of  sight  of  land,  in  the  middle  of  the  ocean.  We 
had  the  same  subject  up  the  other  day." 

"  And  how  did  IlaiTy  tell  you,  this  time,  that  was  done,  my 
dear  ?" 

"  By  finding  the  difference  in  the  time  of  day  between  two 
places — just  as  he  did  before." 

"  But  there  is  no  difference  in  the  time  of  day,  child,  when 
the  clocks  go  well." 

"  Yes,  there  is,  aunty  dear,  as  the  sun  rises  in  one  place 
before  it  does  in  another." 

"  Rose,  you've  been  listening  to  nonsense  now !  Remember 
what  I  have  so  often  told  you  about  young  men,  and  their  way 
of  talking.  I  admit  Harry  Mulford  is  a  respectable  youth, 
and  has  respectable  connections  ;  and  since  you  like  one 
another,  you  may  have  him,  with  all  my  heart,  as  soon  as  he 
gets  a  full-jiggered  ship,  for  I  am  resolved  no  niece  of  my  poor 
dear  husband's  shall  ever  marry  a  mate,  or  a  captain  even, 
unless  he  has  a  full-jiggered  ship  under  his  feet.  But  do  not 
talk  nonsense  with  him.  Nonsense  is  nonsense,  though  a  sen- 
sible man  talks  it.  As  for  all  this  stuff  about  the  time  of  day, 
you  can  see  it  is  nonsense,  as  the  sun  rises  but  once  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  and  of  course  there  cannot  be  two  times,  as  you 
call  it." 

"  But,  aunty  dear,  it  is  not  always  noon  at  London  when  it 
is  noon  at  New  York." 

"  Fiddle-faddle,  child  !  noon  is  noon,  and  there  are  no  more 
two  noons  than  two  suns,  or  two  times.  Distrust  what  young 
men  tell  you,  Rosy,  if  you  would  be  safe,  though  they  should 
tell  you  you  are  handsome." 

Poor  Rose  sighed,  and  gave  up  the  explanation  in  despair. 
Then  a  smile  played  round  her  pretty  mouth.  It  was  not  at 
her  aunt  that  she  smiled ;  this  she  never  permitted  herself  to 
do,  weak  as  was  that  person,  and  weak  as  she  saw  her  to  be  ; 
she  smiled  at  the  recollection  how  often  Mulford  had  hinted 
at  her  good  looks — for  Rose  was  a  female,  and  had  her  own 


230  JACK     TIER. 

weaknesses,  as  well  as  an  other.  But  the  necessity  of  acting 
Boon  drove  these  thoughts  from  her  mind,  and  Rose  sought 
Jack  Tier,  to  confer  with  him  on  the  subject  of  their  new 
duties. 

As  for  Harry  Mulfurd,  his  head  was  no  sooner  laid  on  its 
bunch  of  sail  than  be  fell  into  a  profound  sleep.  There  be  lay, 
slumbering  as  the  seaman  slumbers,  with  no  sense  of  surround- 
ing things.  The  immense  fatigues  of  that  and  of  the  two  pre- 
ceding days, — for  he  had  toiled  at  the  pumps  even  long  after 
night  had  come,  until  the  vessel  was  clear, — weighed  him 
down,  and  Nature  was  now  claiming  her  influence,  and  taking 
a  respite  from  exertion.  Had  he  been  left  to  himself,  it  is 
probable  the  mate  would  not  have  arisen  until  the  sun  had  re- 
appeared some  hours. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  explain  more  minutely  the  precise 
condition,  as  well  as  the  situation  of  the  schooner.  On  quitting 
bis  port,  Mul ford  had  made  a  stretch  of  some  two  leagues  in 
length,  towards  the  northward  and  eastward,  when  he  tacked 
and  stood  to  the  southward.  There  was  enough  of  southing 
in  the  wind  to  make  his  last  course  nearly  due  south.  As  he 
neared  the  reef,  he  found  that  he  fell  in  some  miles  to  the 
eastward  of  the  islets, — proof  that  he  was  doing  very  well, 
and  that  there  was  no  current  to  do  him  any  material  harm, 
if,  indeed,  there  were  not  actually  a  current  in  his  favor.  lie 
next  tacked  to  the  northward  again,  and  stood  in  that  direc- 
tion until  near  night,  when  he  once  more  went  about.  The 
wind  was  now  so  light  that  he  saw  little  prospect  of  getting  in 
with  the  reef  again,  until  the  return  of  day ;  but  as  he  had 
left  orders  with  Jack  Tier  to  be  called  at  twelve  o'clock,  at  all 
events,  this  gave  him  no  uneasiness.  At  the  time  when  the 
mate  lay  down  to  take  his  rest,  therefore,  the  schooner  was 
quite  five-and-twenty  miles  to  windward  of  the  Dry  Tortugas, 
and  some  twenty  miles  to  the  northward  of  the  Florida  Reef 
with  the  wind  quite  light  at  east-southeast.  Such,  then,  was 
the  position  or  situation  of  the  schooner. 


J  A  c:  K    TIER.  231 

As  respects  her  condition,  it  is  easily  described.  She  had 
but  the  three  sails  bent, — mainsail,  foresail,  and  jib.  Her  top 
masts  had  been  struck,  and  all  the  hamper  that  belonged  to 
them  was  below.  The  mainsail  was  single  reefed,  and  the 
foresail  and  jib  were  without  their  bonnets,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned.  This  was  somewhat  short  canvas,  but  Mulford 
knew  that  it  would  render  his  craft  more  manageable  in  the 
event  of  a  blow.  Usually,  at  that  season  and  in  that  region, 
the  east  trades  prevailed  with  great  steadiness,  sometimes  di- 
verging a  little  south  of  east,  as  at  present,  and  generally  blow- 
ing fresh.  But,  for  a  short  time  previously  to,  and  ever  since 
the  tornado,  the  wind  had  been  unsettled,  the  old  currents  ap- 
pearing to  regain  their  ascendency  by  fits,  and  then  losing  it, 
in  squalls,  contrary  currents,  and  even  by  short  calms. 

The  conference  between  Jack  Tier  and  Rose  was  frank  and 
confidential. 

"We  must  depend  mainly  on  you,"  said  the  latter,  turning 
to  look  towards  the  spot  where  Mulford  lay,  buried  in  the  deep- 
est sleep  that  had  ever  gained  power  over  him.  "  Harry  is  so 
fatigued !  It  would  be  shameful  to  awaken  him  a  moment 
sooner  than  is  necessary.1' 

"Ay,  ay;  so  it  is  always  with  young  women,  when  they  lets 
a  young  man  gain  their  ears,"  answered  Jack,  without  the 
least  circumlocution  ;  "  so  it  is,  and  so  it  always  will  be,  I  'm 
afraid.     Nevertheless,  men  is  willians." 

Rose  was  not  affronted  at  this  plain  allusion  to  the  power 
that  Mulford  had  obtained  over  her  feelings.  It  would  seem 
that  Jack  had  got  to  be  so  intimate  in  the  cabins,  that  his 
sex  was,  in  a  measure,  forgotten ;  and  it  is  certain  that  his 
recent  services  were  not.  Without  a  question,  but  for  his  in- 
terference, the  pretty  Rose  Budd  would,  at  that  moment,  have 
been  the  prisoner  of  Spike,  and  most  probably  the  victim  of 
his  design  to  compel  her  to  marry  him. 

"  All  men  are  not  Stephen  Spikes,"  said  Rose,  earnestly 
''  and  least  of  all  is  Harry  Mulford  to  be  reckoned  as  one  of 


232  JACK     TIER. 

his  sort.  But,  Ave  must  manage  to  take  care  of  tlie  schoonei 
the  whole  night,  aud  let  Harry  get  his  rest.  He  wished  to  he 
called  at  twelve,  hut  we  can  easily  let  the  hour  go  by,  and  not 
awaken  him." 

"  The  commanding  officer  ouo-ht  not  to  be  sarved  so,  Miss 
Rose.     "What  he  says  is  to  be  done." 

"  I  know  it,  Jack,  as  to  ordinary  matters ;  but  Uarry  left 
these  orders  that  we  might  have  our  share  of  rest,  and  for  no 
other  reason  at  all.  And  what  is  to  prevent  our  having  it  ? 
We  are  four,  and  can  divide  ourselves  into  two  watches  ;  one 
watch  can  sleep  while  the  other  keeps  a  look-out." 

"  Ay,  ay,  and  pretty  watches  they  would  be !  There's  Madam 
Budd,  now ;  why,  she's  quite  a  navigator,  and  knows  all  about 
weerin'  and  haulin',  and  I  dares  to  say  could  put  the  schooner 
about,  to  keep  her  off  the  reef,  on  a  pinch  ;  though  which  way 
the  craft  would  come  round,  could  best  be  told  a'ter  it  has 
been  done.  It's  as  much  as  /'d  undertake  myself,  Miss  Rose, 
to  take  care  of  the  schooner,  should  it  come  on  to  blow ;  and 
as  for  you,  Madam  Budd,  and  that  squalling  Irishwoman,  you'd 
be  no  better  than  so  many  housewives  ashore." 

"  We  have  strength,  and  we  have  courage,  and  we  can  pull, 
as  you  have  seen.  I  know  very  well  which  way  to  put  the 
helm  now,  and  Biddy  is  as  strong  as  you  are  yourself,  and 
could  help  me  all  I  wished.  Then  we  could  always  call 
you,  at  need,  and  have  your  assistance.  Nay,  Harry  himself 
can  be  called,  if  there  should  be  a  real  necessity  for  it,  and 
I  do  wish  he  may  not  be  disturbed  until  there  is  that  ne- 
cessity." 

It  was  with  a  good  deal  of  reluctance  that  Jack  allowed 
himself  to  be  persuaded  into  this  scheme.  lie  insisted,  for  a 
lono-  time,  that  an  officer  should  be  called  at  the  hour  men- 
tioned by  himself,  and  declared  he  had  never  known  such  an  or- 
der neglected,  "  marchant-man,  privateer,  or  man-of-war."  Rose 
prevailed  over  his  scruples,  however,  and  there  was  a  meeting 
of  the  three  females  to  make  the  final  arrangements.     Mrs. 


JACK     TIER.  2X6 

Budd,  a  kind-hearted  woman,  at  the  worst,  gave  her  assent 
most  cheerfully,  though  Rose  was  a  little  startled  with  the 
nature  of  the  reasoning  with  which  it  was  accompanied. 

"  You  are  quite  right,  Rosy  dear,"  said  the  aunt,  "  and  the 
thing  is  very  easily  done.  I've  long  wanted  to  keep  one  watch 
at  sea;  just  one  watch;  to  complete  my  maritime  education. 
Your  poor  uncle  used  to  say,  '  Give  my  wife  but  one  night- 
watch,  and  you  'd  have  as  good  a  seaman  in  her  as  heart  could 
wish.'  I'm  sure  I've  had  night-watches  enough  with  him  and 
his  ailings ;  but  it  seems  that  they  were  not  the  sort  of  watches 
he  meant.  Indeed,  I  didn't  know,  till  this  evening,  there  were  so 
many  watches  in  the  world,  at  all.  But  this  is  just  what  I  want, 
and  just  what  I'm  resolved  to  have.  Tier  shall  command  one 
watch  and  I'll  command  the  other.  Jack's  shall  be  the  '  dog- 
watch,' as  they  call  it,  and  mine  shall  be  the  '  middle-watch,' 
and  last  till  morning.  You  shall  be  in  Jack's  watch,  Rose,  and 
Biddy  shall  be  in  mine.  You  know  a  good  deal  that  Jack  don't 
know,  and  Biddy  can  do  a  good  deal  I'm  rather  too  stout  to 
do.  I  don't  like  pulling  ropes,  but  as  for  ordering,  I'll  turn 
my  back  on  no  captain's  widow  out  of  York." 

Rose  had  her  own  misgivings  on  the  subject  of  her  aunt's 
issuing  orders  on  such  a  subject  to  any  one,  but  she  made  the 
best  of  necessity,  and  completed  the  arrangements  without 
further  discussion.  Her  great  anxiety  was  to  secure  a  good 
night's  rest  for  Harry,  already  feeling  a  woman's  care  in  the  com- 
fort and  ease  of  the  man  she  loved.  And  Rose  did  love  Harry 
Mulford  warmly  and  sincerely.  If  the  very  decided  preference 
with  which  she  regarded  him  before  they  sailed,  had  not  abso- 
lutely amounted  to  passion,  it  had  come  so  very  near  it  as  to 
render  that  access  of  feeling  certain,  under  the  influence  of  the 
association  and  events  which  succeeded.  We  have  not  thought, 
it  necessary  to  relate  a  tithe  of  the  interviews  and  intercourse 
that  had  taken  place  between  the  handsome  mate  and  the 
pretty  Rose  Budd,  during  the  month  they  had  been  shipmates, 
having  left  the  reader  to  imagine  the  natural  course  of  things. 


234  JACK      TIED, 

under  such  circumstances.  Nevertheless,  the  plighted  troth 
had  not  been  actually  given  until  Harry" joined  her  on  the 
islet,  at  a  moment  when  she  fancied  herself  abandoned  to  a 
fate  almost  as  serious  as  death.  Rose  had  seen  Mulford  quit 
the  brig,  had  watched  the  mode  and  manner  of  his  escape, 
and  in  almost  breathless  amazement,  and  felt  how  dear  to  her 
he  had  become,  by  the  glow  of  delight  which  warmed  her 
heart,  when  assured  that  he  could  not,  would  not,  forsake  her, 
even  though  he  remained  at  the  risk  of  life.  She  was  now, 
true  to  the  instinct  of  her  sex,  mostly  occupied  in  making 
such  a  return  for  an  attachment  so  devoted  as  became  her  ten- 
derness and  the  habits  of  her  mind. 

As  Mrs.  Budd  chose  what  she  was  pleased  to  term  the  "  mid- 
dle-watch," giving  to  Jack  Tier  and  Rose  her  "  dog-watch," 
the  two  last  were  first  on  duty.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
say,  the  captain's  widow  got  the  names  of  the  watches  all 
wrong,  as  she  got  the  names  of  every  thing  else  about  a  vessel ; 
but  the  plan  was  to  divide  the  night  equally  between  thcjse 
quasi  mariners,  giving  the  first  half  to  those  who  were  first  on 
the  look-out,  and  the  remainder  to  their  successors.  It  soon 
became  so  calm,  that  Jack  left  the  helm,  and  came  and  sat  by 
Rose,  on  the  trunk,  where  they  conversed  confidentially  for  a 
long  time.  Although  the  reader  will,  hereafter,  be  enabled  to 
form  some  plausible  conjectures  on  the  subject  of  this  dialogue, 
we  shall  give  him  no  part  of  it  here.  All  that  need  now  be 
said,  is  to  add,  that  Jack  did  most  of  the  talking,  that  his  past 
life  was  the  principal  theme,  and  that  the  terrible  Stephen 
Spike,  he  from  whom  tbey  were  now  so  desirous  of  escaping,  was 
largely  mixed  up  with  the  adventures  recounted.  Jack  found 
in  his  companion  a  deeply  interested  listener,  although  this 
was  by  no  means  the  first  time  they  had  gone  over  together 
the  same  story  and  discussed  the  same  events.  The  conversa- 
tion lasted  until  Tier,  who  watched  the  glass,  seeing  that  its 
sands. had  run  out  for  the  last  time,  announced  the  hour  of 
midnight.     This  was  the  moment  when  Mulford  should  have 


JACK      TIER.  235 

been  called,  but  when  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy  Noon  were  ac- 
tually awakened  in  Lis  stead. 

"Now,  dear  aunty,"  said  Rose,  as  sbe  parted  from  the  new 
watch  to  go  and  catch  a  little  sleep  herself,  "  remember  you 
are  not  to  awaken  Harry  first,  but  to  call  Tier  and  myself.  It 
would  have  done  your  heart  good  to  have  seen  how  sweetly  he 
has  been  sleeping  all  this  time.  I  do  not  think  he  has  stirred 
once  since  his  head  was  laid  on  that  bunch  of  sails,  and  there 
lie  is,  at  this  moment,  sleeping  like  an  infant !" 

"  Yes,"  returned  the  relict,  "  it  is  always  so  with  your  true 
maritime  people.  I  have  been  sleeping  a  great  deal  more 
soundly,  the  whole  of  the  dog-watch,  than  I  ever  slept  at 
home,  in  my  own  excellent  bed.  But  it's  your  watch  below, 
Rosy,  and  contrary  to  the  rule  for  you  to  stay  on  the  deck, 
after  you've  been  relieved,  I've  heard  this  a  thousand 
times." 

Rose  was  not  sorry  to  lie  down ;  and  her  head  was  scarcely 
on  its  pillow,  in  the  cabin,  before  she  was  fast  asleep.  As  for 
Jack,  he  found  a  place  among  Mnlford's  sails,  and  was  quickly 
in  the  same  state. 

To  own  the  truth,  Mrs.  Budd  was  not  quite  so  much  at  ease, 
in  her  new  station,  for  the  first  half  hour,  as  she  had  fancied 
to  herself  might  prove  to  be  the  case.  It  was  a  fiat  calm,  it 
is  true ;  but  the  widow  felt  oppressed  with  responsibility  and 
the  novelty  of  her  situation.  Time  and  again  had  she  said, 
and  even  imagined,  she  should  be  delighted  to  fill  the  very 
station  she  then  occupied,  or  to  be  in  charge  of  a  deck,  in  a 
"middle-watch."  In  this  instance,  however,  as  in  so  many 
others,  reality  did  not  equal  anticipation.  She  wished  to  be 
doing  every  thing,  but  did  not  know  how  to  do  any  thing. 
As  for  Biddy,  she  was  even  worse  off  than  her  mistress.  A 
month's  experience,  or  for  that  matter  a  twelvemonth's,  could 
not  unravel  to  her  the  mysteries  of  even  a  schooner's  rigging. 
Mrs.Budd  had  placed  her  "at  the  wheel,"  as  she  called  it,  though 
the  vessel  had  no  wheel,  being  steered  by  a  tiller  on  deck,  in 


23G  JACK     T  I  E  R  . 

the  'long-shore  fashion.  In  stationing  Biddy,  the  widow  told 
her  that  she  was  to  play  "tricks  at  the  wheel,"  leaving  it  to 
the  astounded  Irishwoman's  imagination  to  discover  what 
those  tricks  were.  Failing  in  ascertaining  what  might  be  the 
nature  of  her  "tricks  at  the  wheel,"  Biddy  was  content  to  dc 
nothing,  and  nothing,  under  the  circumstances,  was  perhaps 
the  very  best  thing  she  could  have  done. 

Little  was  required  to  be  done  for  the  first  four  hours  of  Mrs. 
Budd's  watch.  All  that  time,  Rose  slept  in  her  berth,  and 
Mulford  and  Jack  Tier  on  their  sail,  while  Biddy  had  played 
the  wheel  a  "trick,"  indeed,  by  lying  down  on  deck,  and 
sleeping,  too,  as  soundly  as  if  she  were  in  the  county  Down 
itself.  But  there  was  to  be  an  end  of  this  tranquillity.  Sud- 
denly the  wind  began  to  blow.  At  first,  the  breeze  came  in 
fitful  puffs,  which  were  neither  very  strong  nor  very  lasting 
This  induced  Mrs.  Budd  to  awaken  Biddy.  Luckily,  a  schooner 
without  a  topsail  could  not  very  well  be  taken  aback,  espe- 
cially as  the  head-sheets  worked  on  travellers,  and  Mrs.  Budd 
and  her  assistant  contrived  to  manage  the  tiller  very  well  for 
the  first  hour  that  these  varying  puffs  of  wind  lasted.  It  is 
true,  the  tiller  was  lashed,  and  it  is  also  true,  the  schooner  ran 
in  all  directions,  having  actually  headed  to  all  the  cardinal 
points  of  the  compass,  under  her  present  management.  At 
length,  Mrs.  Budd  became  alarmed.  A  puff  of  wind  came  so 
strong,  as  to  cause  the  vessel  to  lie  over  so  far  as  to  bring  the 
water  into  the  lee  scuppers.  She  called  Jack  Tier  herself, 
therefore,  and  sent  Biddy  down  to  awaken  Rose.  In  a  minute, 
both  these  auxiliaries  appeared  on  deck.  The  wind  just  then 
lulled,  and  Rose,  supposing  her  aunt  was  frightened  at  trifles, 
insisted  on  it  that  Harry  should  be  permitted  to  sleep  on.  He 
had  turned  over  once,  in  the  course  of  the  night,  but  not  once 
had  he  raised  his  head  from  his  pillow. 

As  soon  as  reinforced,  Mrs.  Budd  began  to  bustle  about,  and 
to  give  commands,  such  as  they  were,  in  order  to  prove  that 
she  was  unterrified.     Jack  Tier  gaped  at  her  elbow,  and  by 


JACK      TIER.  237 

way  of  something  to  do,  he  laid  bis  Land  on  the  painter  of 
the  Swash's  boat,  which  boat  was  towing  astern,  and  remarked 
that  "some  know-nothing  had  belayed  it  with  three  half- 
hitches."  This  was  enough  for  the  relict.  She  had  often 
heard  the  saying  that  "  three  half-hitches  lost  the  king's  long 
boat,"  and  she  busied  herself,  at  once,  in  repairing  so  imminent 
an  evil.  It  was  far  easier  for  the  good  woman  to  talk  than 
to  act ;  she  became  what  is  called  "  all  fingers  and  thumbs," 
and  in  loosening  the  third  half-hitch,  she  cast  off  the  two 
others.  At  that  instant  a  puff  of  wind  struck  the  schooner 
again,  and  the  end  of  the  painter  got  away  from  the  widow, 
who  had  a  last  glimpse  at  the  boat,  as  the  vessel  darted 
ahead,  leaving  its  little  tender  to  vanish  in  the  gloom  of  the 
night. 

Jack  was  excessively  provoked  at  this  accident,  for  he  had 
foreseen  the  possibility  of  having  recourse  to  that  boat  yet,  in 
order  to  escape  from  Spike.  By  abandoning  the  schooner, 
and  pulling  on  to  the  reef,  it  might  have  been  possible  to  get 
out  of  their  pursuer's  hands,  when  all  other  means  should  fail 
them.  As  he  was  at  the  tiller,  he  put  his  helm  up,  and  ran 
off,  until  far  enough  to  leeward  to  be  to  the  westward  of  the 
boat,  when  he  might  tack,  fetch  and  recover  it.  Nevertheless, 
it  now  blew  much  harder  than  he  liked,  for  the  schooner 
seemed  to  be  unusually  tender.  Had  he  had  the  force  to  do 
it,  he  would  have  brailed  the  foresail.  He  desired  Rose  to 
call  Mulford,  but  she  hesitated  about  complying. 

"  Call  him — call  the  mate,  I  say,"  cried  out  Jack,  in  a  voice 
that  proved  how  much  he  was  in  earnest.  "  These  puffs  come 
heavy,  I  can  tell  you,  and  they  come  often,  too.  Call  him — 
call  him,  at  once,  Miss  Rose,  for  it  is  time  to  tack,  if  we  wish 
to  recover  the  boat.  Tell  him,  too,  to  brail  the  foresail  while 
we  are  in  stays — that's  right ;  another  call  will  start  him  up." 

The  other  call  was  given,  aided  by  a  gentle  shake  from  Rose's 
hand.  Harry  was  on  his  feet  in  a  moment.  A  passing  instant 
"7as  necessary  to  clear  his  faculties,  and  to  recover  the  tenor  of 


238 


JACK     TIER 


his  thoughts.  During  that  instant,  the  mate  heard  Jack  Tier's 
shrill  cry  of  "  Hard  a-lee — get  in  that  foresail — bear  a-hand — 
in  with  it,  I  say  !" 

The  v/ind  came  rushing  and  roaring,  and  the  flaps  of  the 
canvas  were  violent  and  heavy. 

"  In  with  the  foresail,  I  say,"  shouted  Jack  Tier.  "  She  flies 
round  like  a  top,  and  will  be  off  the  wind  on  the  other  tack 
presently.  Bear  a-hand ! — bear  a-hand !  It  looks  black  as 
night  to  windward." 

Mulford  then  regained  all  his  powers.  lie  sprang  to  the  fore- 
sheet,  calling  on  the  others  for  aid.  The  violent  surges  pro- 
•duced  by  the  wind  prevented  his  grasping  the  sheet  as  soon  as 
he  could  wish,  and  the  vessel  whirled  round  on  her  heel,  like  a 
steed  that  is  frightened.  At  that  critical  and  dangerous  instant, 
when  the  schooner  was  nearly  without  motion  through  the 
water,  a  squall  struck  the  flattened  sails,  and  bowed  her  down  as 
the  willow  bends  to  the  gale.  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy  screamed  as 
usual,  and  Jack  shouted  until  his  voice  seemed  cracked,  to  "  let 
go  the  head-sheets."  Mulford  did  make  one  leap  forward,  to 
execute  this  necessary  office,  when  the  inclining  plane  of  the 
deck  told  him  it  was  too  late.  The  wind  fairly  howled  for  a 
minute,  and  over  went  the  schooner,  the  remains  of  her  cargo 
shifting  as  she  capsized,  in  a  way  to  bring  her  very  nearly 
bottom  upward. 


JACK     TJKR„  2''J9 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

"  Ay,  fare  you  well,  fair  gentleman." — As  You  Like  It. 

While  the  tyro  believes  the  vessel  is  about  to  capsize  at 
every  puff  of  wind,  the  practised  seaman  alone  knows  when 
danger  truly  besets  him  in  this  particular  form.  Thus  it  was 
with  Harry  Mulford,  when  the  Mexican  schooner  went  over,  as 
related  in  the  close  of  the  preceding  chapter.  He  felt  no  alarm 
until  the  danger  actually  came.  Then,  indeed,  no  one  there 
was  so  quickly,  or  so  thoroughly  apprised  of  what  the  result 
would  be,  and  he  directed  all  his  exertions  to  meet  the  exigency. 
While  there  was  the  smallest  hope  of  success,  he  did  not  lessen, 
in  the  least,  his  endeavors  to  save  the  vessel ;  making  almost 
superhuman  efforts  to  cast  off  the  fore-sheet,  so  as  to  relieve  the 
schooner  from  the  pressure  of  one  of  her  sails.  But  no  sooner 
did  he  hear  the  barrels  in  the  hold  surging  to  leeward,  and  feel 
by  the  inclination  of  the  deck  beneath  his  feet,  that  nothing 
could  save  the  craft,  than  he  abandoned  the  sheet  and  sprang  to 
the  assistance  of  Rose.  It  was  time  he  did ;  for,  having  fol- 
lowed him  into  the  vessel's  lee-waist,  she  was  the  first  to  be 
submerged  in  the  sea,  and  would  have  been  hopelessly  drowned, 
but  for  Mulford's  timely  succor.  Women  might  swim  more 
readily  than  men,  and  do  so  swim,  in  those  portions  of  the 
world  where  the  laws  of  nature  are  not  counteracted  by  human 
conventions.  Rose  Budd,  however,  had  received  the  vicious 
education  which  civilized  society  inflicts  on  her  sex,  and,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  was  totally  helpless  in  an  element  in  which  it 
was  the  design  of  Divine  Providence  she  should  possess  the 
common  means  of  sustaining   herself,  like  every  other   being 


840  JACK     Tltli 

endued  with  animal  life.  Not  so  with  Mulford :  he  swam 
with  ease  and  force,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  sustaining  Rose 
until  the  schooner  had  settled  into  her  new  berth,  or  in  hauling 
her  on  the  vessel's  bottom  immediately  after. 

Luckily,  there  was  no  swell,  or  so  little  as  not  to  endanger 
those  who  were  on  the  schooner's  bilge ;  and  Mulford  had  no 
sooner  placed  her  in  momentary  safety  at  least,  whom  he  prized 
far  higher  than  his  own  life,  than  he  bethought  him  of  his  other 
companions.  Jack  Tier  had  hauled  himself  up  to  windward  by 
the  rope  that  steadied  the  tiller,  and  he  had  called  on  Mrs.  Budd 
to  imitate  his  example.  It  was  so  natural  for  even  a  woman  to 
grasp  any  thing  like  a  rope  at  such  a  moment,  that  the 
widow  instinctively  obeyed,  while  Biddy  seized  at  random  the 
first  thing  of  the  sort  that  offered.  Owing  to  these  fortunate 
chances,  Jack  and  Mrs.  Budd  succeeded  in  reaching  the  quarter 
of  the  schooner,  the  former  actually  gettiug  up  on  the  bottom 
of  the  wreck,  on  to  which  he  was  enabled  to  float  the  widow,  who 
was  almost  as  buoyant  as  cork,  as  indeed  was  the  case  with 
Jack  himself.  All  the  stern  and  bows  of  the  vessel  were  under 
water,  in  consequence  of  her  leanness  forward  and  aft ;  but 
though  submerged,  she  offered  a  precarious  footing,  even 
in  these  extremities,  to  such  as  could  reach  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  place  where  Rose  stood,  or  the  bilge  of  the  ves- 
sel, was  two  or  three  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  sea,  though 
slippery  and  inclining  in  shape. 

It  was  not  half  a  minute  from  the  time  that  Mulford  sprang 
to  Rose's  succor,  ere  he  had  her  on  the  vessel's  bottom.  In  an- 
other half  minute,  he  had  waded  down  on  the  schooner's  coun- 
ter, where  Jack  Tier  was  lustily  calling  to  him  for  "  help !"  and 
assisted  the  widow  to  her  feet,  and  supported  her  until  she  stood 
at  Rose's  side.  Leaving  the  last  in  her  auut's  arms,  half  dis- 
tracted between  dread  and  joy,  he  turned  to  the  assistance  of 
Diddy.  The  rope  at  which  the  Irish  woman  had  caught,  was  a 
straggling  end  that  had  been  made  fast  to  the  main  channels  of 
the  s  'hooner,  for  the  support  of  a  feuder,  and  had  been  hauled 


JACK     TIER.  241 

partly  in-board  to  keep  it  out  of  the  water.  Biddy  had  found 
no  difficulty  in  dragging  herself  up  to  the  chains,  therefore  ;  and 
had  she  been  content  to  sustain  herself  by  the  rope,  leaving  as 
much  of  her  body  submerged  as  comported  with  breathing,  her 
task  would  have  been  easy.  But,  like  most  persons  who  do  not 
know  how  to  swim,  the  good  woman  was  fast  exhausting  her 
strength,  by  vain  efforts  to  walk  on  the  surface  of  an  element 
that  was  never  made  to  sustain  her.  Unpractised  persons,  in 
such  situations,  cannot  be  taught  to  believe  that  their  greatest 
safety  is  in  leaving  as  much  of  their  bodies  as  possible  beneath 
the  water,  keeping  the  mouth  and  nose  alone  free  for  breath. 
But  we  have  seen  even  instances  in  which  men,  who  were  in 
danger  of  drowning,  seemed  to  believe  it  might  be  possible  for 
them  to  crawl  over  the  waves  on  their  hands  and  knees.  The 
philosophy  of  the  contrary  course  is  so  very  simple,  that  one 
would  fancy  a  very  child  might  be  made  to  comprehend  it ;  yet, 
it  is  rare  to  find  one  unaccustomed  to  the  water,  and  who  is  sud- 
denly exposed  to  its  dangers,  that  does  not  resort,  under  the 
pressure  of  present  alarm,  to  the  very  reverse  of  the  true  means 
to  save  his  or  her  life. 

Mulford  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  Bridget,  whose  exclama- 
tions of  "  Murther  !"  "  help  !"  "  he-l-lup  !"  "  Jasus  !"  and  other 
similar  cries,  led  him  directly  to  the  spot,  where  she  was  fast 
drowning  herself  by  her  own  senseless  struggles.  Seizing  her 
by  the  arm,  the  active  young  mate  soon  placed  her  on  ber  feet 
though  her  cries  did  not  cease  until  she  was  ordered  by  her 
mistress  to  keep  silence. 

Having  thus  rescued  the  whole  of  his  companions  from  im- 
mediate danger,  Mulford  began  to  think  of  the  future.  He  was 
seized  with  sudden  surprise  that  the  vessel  did  not  sink,  and  for 
a  minute  he  was  unable  to  account  for  the  unusual  fact.  On 
the  former  occasion,  the  schooner  had  gone  down  almost  as  soon 
as  she  fell  over ;  but  now  she  floated  with  so  much  buoyancy  as 
to  leave  most  of  her  keel  and  all  of  her  bilge  on  one  side  quite 
clear  of  the  water.     As  one  of  the  main  hatches  was  off,  and 

11 


242  JACK     TIER. 

the  cabin-doors,  and  booby-hatch  doors  forward  were  open,  and 
all  were  under  water,  it  required  a  little  reflection  on  the  part 
of  Mulford  to  understand  on  what  circumstance  all  their  lives 
now  depended.  The  mate  soon  ascertained  the  truth,  however, 
and  we  may  as  well  explain  it  to  the  reader  in  our  own  fashion, 
in  order  to  put  him  on  a  level  with  the  young  seaman. 

The  puff  of  wind,  or  little  squall,  had  struck  the  schooner  at 
the  most  unfavorable  moment  for  her  safety.  She  had  just  lost 
her  way  in  tacking',  and  the  hull  not  moving  ahead,  as  happens 
when  a  craft  is  thus  assailed  with  the  motion  on  her,  all  the 
power  of  the  wind  was  expended  in  the  direction  necessary  to 
capsize  her.  Another  disadvantage  arose  from  the  want  of  motion. 
The  rudder,  which  acts  solely  by  pressing  against  the  water  as  the 
vessel  meets  it,  was  useless,  and  it  was  not  possible  to  luff,  and 
throw  the  wind  from  the  sails,  as  is  usually  practised  by  fore-and- 
aft  rigged  craft,  in  moments  of  such  peril.  In  consequence  of 
these  united  difficulties,  the  shifting  of  the  cargo  in  the  hold,  the 
tenderness  of  the  craft  itself,  and  the  force  of  the  squall,  the 
schooner  had  gone  so  far  over  as  to  carry  all  three  of  the  open- 
ings to  her  interior  suddenly  under  water,  where  they  remained, 
held  by  the  pressure  of  the  cargo  that  had  rolled  to  leeward. 
Had  not  the  water  completely  covered  these  openings,  or  hatches, 
the  schooner  must  have  sunk  in  a  minute  or  two,  or  by  the  time 
Mulford  had  got  all  his  companions  safe  on  her  bilge.  But 
they  were  completely  submerged,  and  so  continued  to  be,  which 
circumstance  alone  prevented  the  vessel  from  sinking,  as  the 
following  simple  explanation  will  show. 

Any  person  who  will  put  an  empty  tumbler,  bottom  upwards, 
into  a  bucket  of  water,  will  find  that  the  water  will  not  rise 
within  the  tumbler  more  than  an  inch  at  most.  At  that  point 
it  is  arrested  by  the  resistance  of  the  air,  which,  unable  to  es- 
cape, and  compressed  into  a  narrow  compass,  forms  a  body  that 
the  other  fluid  cannot  penetrate.  It  is  on  this  simple  and 
familiar  principle,  that  the  chemist  keeps  his  gases,  in  inverted 
glasses,  placing  them   on  shelves,  slightly  submerged  in  water. 


J  A  C  K     TIER.  243 

Thus  it  was,  then,  that  the  schooner  continued  to  float,  though 
nearly  bottom  upward,  and  with  three  inlets  open,  by  which 
the  water  could  and  did  penetrate.  A  considerable  quantity  of 
the  element  had  rushed  in  at  the  instant  of  capsizing,  but  meet- 
ing with  resistance  from  the  compressed  and  pent  air,  its  pro- 
gress had  been  arrested,  and  the  wreck  continued  to  float,  sus- 
tained by  the  buoyancy  that  was  imparted  to  it,  in  containing 
so  large  a  body  of  a  substance  no  heavier  than  atmospheric  air. 
After  displacing  its  weight  of  water,  enough  of  buoyancy  re- 
mained to  raise  the  keel  a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

As  soon  as  Mulford  had  ascertained  the  facts  of  their  situa- 
tion, he  communicated  them  to  his  companions,  encouraging 
them  to  hope  for  eventual  safety.  It  was  true,  their  situation 
was  nearly  desperate,  admitting  that  the  wreck  should  continue 
to  float  forever,  since  they  were  almost  without  food,  or  any 
thing  to  drink,  and  had  no  means  of  urging  the  hull  through 
the  water.  They  must  float,  too,  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds 
and  waves,  and  should  a  sea  get  up,  it  might  soon  be  impossible 
for  Mulford  himself  to  maintain  his  footing  on  the  bottom  of 
the  Avreck.  All  this  the  young  man  had  dimly  shadowed  forth 
to  him,  through  his  professional  experience ;  but  the  certainty 
of  the  vessel's  not  sinking  immediately  had  so  far  revived  his 
spirits,  as  to  cause  him  to  look  on  the  bright  side  of  the  future, 
pale  as  that  glimmering  of  hope  was  made  to  appear  whenever 
reason  cast  one  of  its  severe  glances  athwart  it. 

Harry  had  no  difficulty  in  making  Rose  comprehend  their 
precise  situation.  Her  active  and  clear  mind  understood  at 
once  the  causes  of  their  present  preservation,  and  most  of  the 
hazards  of  the  future.  It  was  not  so  with  Jack  Tier.  He  was 
composed,  even  resigned ;  but  he  could  not  see  the  reason  why 
the  schooner  still  floated. 

"  I  know  that  the  cabin-doors  were  open,"  he  said,  "  and  if 
they  wasn't,  of  no  great  matter  would  it  be,  since  the  joints 
aren't  caulked,  and  the  water  would  run  through  them  as 
through  a  sieve.     I'm  afeard,  Mr.  Mulford,  we  shall  find  the 


244  JACK     TIER. 

wreck  going  from  under  our  feet  afore  long,  and  when  we  least 
wish  it,  perhaps." 

.  "  I  tell  you  the  wreck  will  float  so  long  as  the  air  remains  in 
its  hold,"  returned  the  mate,  cheerfully.  "  Do  you  not  see  how 
buoyant  it  is  ? — the  certain  proof  that  there  is  plenty  of  air 
within.     So  long  as  that  remains,  the  hull  must  float." 

"  I've  always  understood,"  said  Jack,  sticking  to  his  opinion, 
u  that  wessels  floats  by  vartue  of  water,  and  not  by  vartue  of 
air ;  and,  that  when  the  water  gets  on  the  wrong  side  on  'em, 
there's  little  hope  left  of  keepin'  'em  up." 

"  What  has  become  of  the  boat  ?"  suddenly  cried  the  mate. 
"  I  have  been  so  much  occupied  as  to  have  forgotten  the  boat, 
In  that  boat  we  might  all  of  us  still  reach  Key  West.  I  see 
nothing  of  the  boat !" 

A  profound  silence  succeeded  this  sudden  and  unexpected 
question.  All  knew  that  the  boat  was  gone,  and  all  knew 
that  it  had  been  lost  by  the  widow's  pertinacity  and  clumsi- 
ness ;  but  no  one  felt  disposed  to  betray  her  at  that  grave  mo- 
ment. Mulford  left  the  bilge,  and  waded  as  far  aft  as  it  was  at 
all  prudent  for  him  to  proceed,  in  the  vain  hope  that  the  boat 
might  be  there,  fastened  by  its  painter  to  the  schooner's  tafferel, 
as  he  had  left  it,  but  concealed  from  view  by  the  darkness  of 
the  night.  Not  finding  what  he  was  after,  he  returned  to  his 
companions,  still  uttering  exclamations  of  surprise  at  the  un- 
accountable loss  of  the  boat.  Rose  now  told  him  that  the 
boat  had  got  adrift  some  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  before  the  ac- 
cident befell  them,  and  that  they  were  actually  endeavoring 
to  recover  it  when  the  squall  which  capsized  the  schooner 
struck  them. 

"  And  why  did  you  not  call  me,  Rose  ?"  asked  Ilarry,  with 
a  little  of  gentle  reproach  in  his  manner.  "  It  must  have  soon 
been  my  watch  on  deck,  and  it  would  have  been  better  that  I 
should  lose  half  an  hour  of  my  watch  below,  than  that  we 
should  lose  the  boat." 

Rose  was  now  obliged  to  confess  that  the  time  for  calling 


JACK      TIER.  245 

him  had  long  been  past,  and  that  the  faint  streak  of  light, 
which  was  jnst  appearing  in  the  east,  was  the  near  approach 
of  day.  This  explanation  was  made  gently,  but  frankly ;  and 
Mulford  experienced  a  glow  of  pleasure  at  his  heart,  even  in 
that  moment  of  jeopardy,  when  he  understood  Rose's  motive 
for  not  having  him  disturbed.  As  the  boat  was  goue,  with 
little  or  no  prospect  of  its  being  recovered  again,  no  more  was 
said  about  it ;  and  the  widow,  who  had  stood  on  thorns  the 
while,  had  the  relief  of  believing  that  her  awkwardness  was 
forgotten. 

It  was  such  a  relief  from  an  imminent  danger  to  have 
escaped  from  drowning  when  the  schooner  capsized,  that  those 
on  her  bottom  did  not,  for  some  little  time,  realize  all  the  ter- 
rors of  their  actual  situation.  The  inconvenience  of  being  wet 
was  a  trifle  not  to  be  thought  of,  and,  in  fact,  the  light  sum- 
mer dresses  worn  by  all,  linen  or  cotton  as  they  were  entirely, 
were  soon  effectually  dried  in  the  wind.  The  keel  made  a 
tolerably  convenient  seat,  and  the  whole  party  placed  them- 
selves on  it  to  await  the  return  of  day,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
view  of  all  that  their  situation  offered  in  the  way  of  a  prospect. 
While  thus  awaiting,  a  broken  and  short  dialogue  occurred. 

"  Had  you  stood  to  the  northward  the  whole  night  ?"  asked 
Mulford,  gloomily,  of  Jack  Tier ;  for  gloomily  he  began  to  feel, 
as  all  the  facts  of  their  case  began  to  press  more  closely  on  his 
mind.  "  If  so,  we  must  be  well  off  the  reef,  and  out  of  the 
track  of  wreckers  and  turtlers.  IIow  had  you  the  wind,  and 
how  did  you  head  before  the  accident  happened  V 

"The  wind  was  light  the  whole  time,  and  for  some  hours  it 
was  nearly  calm,"  answered  Jack,  in  the  same  vein.  "  I  kept 
the  schooner's  head  to  the  nor'ard,  until  I  thought  we  were 
getting  too  far  off  our  course,  and  tlien  I  put  her  about.  I  do 
not  think  we  could  have  been  any  great  distance  from  the 
-eef,  when  the  boat  got  away  from  us,  and  I  suppose  we  are 
in  its  neighborhood  now,  for  I  was  tacking  to  fall  in  with  the 
boat  when  the  craft  went  over." 


246  JACK     TIER. 

"  To  fell  in  with  the  boat !  Did  you  keep  off  to  leeward  of 
it,  then,  that  you  expected  to  fetch  it  by  tacking  ?" 

"  Ay,  a  good  bit ;  and  I  think  the  boat  is  now  away  here  to 
windward  of  us,  drifting  athwart  our  bows." 

This  was  important  news  to  Mulford.  Could  he  only  get 
that  boat,  the  chances  of  being  saved  would  be  increased  a 
hundred-fold,  nay,  would  almost  amount  to  a  certainty; 
whereas,  so  long  as  the  wind  held  to  the  southward  and  east- 
ward, the  drift  of  the  wreck  must  be  towards  the  open  water, 
and,  consequently,  so  much  the  farther  removed  from  the 
means  of  succor.  The  general  direction  of  the  trades,  in  that 
quarter  of  the  world,  is  east,  and  should  they  get  round  into 
their  old  and  proper  quarter,  it  would  not  benefit  them  much  ; 
for  the  reef  running  southwest,  they  could  scarcely  hope  to  hit 
the  Dry  Tortugas  again,  in  their  drift,  were  life  even  spared 
them  sufficiently  long  to  float  the  distance.  Then  there  might 
be  currents,  about  which  Mulford  knew  nothing  with  certainty ; 
they  might  set  them  in  any  direction ;  and  did  they  exist,  as 
was  almost  sure  to  be  the  case,  were  much  more  powerful  than 
the  wind  in  controlling  the  movements  of  a  Avreck. 

The  mate  strained  his  eyes  in  the  direction  pointed  out  by 
Jack  Tier,  in  the  hope  of  discovering  the  boat  through  the 
haze  of  the  morning,  and  he  actually  did  discern  something 
that,  it  appeared  to  him,  might  be  the  much-desired  little 
craft.  If  he  were  right,  there  was  every  reason  to  think  the  boat 
would  drift  down  so  near  them  as  to  enable  him  to  recover  it 
by  swimming.  This  cheering  intelligence  was  communicated 
to  his  companions,  who  received  it  with  gratitude  and  delight. 
But  the  approach  of  day  gradually  dispelled  that  hope,  the 
object  which  Mulford  had  mistaken  for  the  boat,  within  two 
hundred  yards  of  the  wreck,  turning  out  to  be  a  small,  low, 
but  bare  hummock  of  the  reef,  at  a  distance  of  more  than  two 
miles. 

"  That  is  a  proof  that  we  are  not  far  from  the  reef,  at  least," 
cried  Mulford,  willing  to  encourage  those  around  him  all  he 


JACK     TIER,  247 

could,  and  really  much  relieved  at  finding  himself  so  near  even 
this  isolated  fragment  of  terra  firma.  "  This  fact  is  the  next 
encouraging  thing  to  finding  ourselves  near  the  boat,  or  tr 
falling  in  with  a  sail." 

"Ay,  ay,"  said  Jack,  gloomily;  "boat  or  no  boat,  'twill 
make  no  great  matter  of  difference  now.  Tliere's  customers 
that'll  be  sartain  to  take  all  the  grists  you  can  send  to  their 
mill." 

"  What  things  are  those  glancing  about  the  vessel  V  cried 
Rose,  almost  in  the  same  breath ;  "  those  dark,  sharp-looking 
sticks — see,  there  are  five  or  six  of  them  !  and  they  move  as 
if  fastened  to  something  under  the  water  that  pulls  them 
about." 

"  Them's  the  customers  I  mean,  Miss  Rose,"  answered  Jack, 
in  the  same  strain  as  that  in  which  he  had  first  spoken ; 
"they're  the  same  thing  at  sea  as  lawyers  be  ashore,  and 
seem  made  to  live  on  other  folks.     Them's  sharks." 

"And  yonder  is  truly  the  boat!"  added  Mulford,  with  a 
sigh  that  almost  amounted  to  a  groan.  The  light  had,  by  this 
time,  so  far  returned  as  to  enable  the  party  not  only  to  see 
the  fins  of  half  a  dozen  sharks,  which  were  already  prowling 
about  the  wreck,  the  almost  necessary  consequence  of  their 
proximity  to  a  reef  in  that  latitude,  but  actually  to  discern  the 
boat  drifting  down  towards  them,  at  a  distance  that  promised 
to  carry  it  past,  within  the  reach  of  Mulford's  powers  of  swim- 
ming, though  not  as  near  as  he  could  have  wished,  even  under 
more  favorable  circumstances.  Had  their  extremity  been 
greater,  or  had  Rose  begun  to  suffer  from  hunger  or  thirst, 
Mulford  might  have  attempted  the  experiment  of  endeavoring 
to  regain  the  boat,  though  the  chances  of  death,  by  means  of 
the  sharks,  would  be  more  than  equal  to  those  of  escape ;  but 
still  fresh,  and  not  yet  feeling  even  the  heat  of  the  sun  of  that 
low  latitude,  he  was  not  quite  goaded  into  such  an  act  of  des- 
peration. All  that  remained  for  the  party,  therefore,  was  to 
sit  on  the  keel  of  the  wreck,  and  gaze  with  longing  eyes  at  a 


248  JACK      TIER. 

little  object  floating  past,  which,  once  at  their  command,  might 
so  readily  be  made  to  save  them  from  a  fate  that  already  be- 
gan to  appear  terrible  in  the  perspective.  Nearly  an  hour  was 
thus  consumed,  ere  the  boat  was  about  half  a  mile  to  leeward  ■ 
during  which  scarcely  an  eye  was  turned  from  it  for  one  in 
stant,  or  a  word  was  spoken. 

"  It  is  beyond  my  reach  now  !"  Mulford  at  length  exclaim- 
ed, sighing  heavily,  like  one  who  became  conscious  of  some 
great  and  irretrievable  loss.  "  Were  there  no  sharks,  I  could 
hardly  venture  to  attempt  swimming  so  far,  with  the  boat 
drifting  from  me  at  the  same  time." 

"  I  should  never  consent  to  let  you  -make  the  trial,  Harry," 
murmured  Rose,  "  though  it  were  only  half  as  far." 

Another  pause  succeeded. 

"  We  have  now  the  light  of  day,"  resumed  the  mate,  a  min- 
ute or  two  later,  "  and  may  see  our  true  situation.  No  sail  is  in 
sight,  and  the  wind  stands  steadily  in  its  old  quarter.  Still  I 
do  not  think  we  leave  the  reef.  There,  you  may  see  breakers 
off  here  at  the  southward,  and  it  seems  as  if  more  rocks  rise 
above  the  sea,  in  that  direction.  I  do  not  know  that  our  situa- 
tion would  be  any  the  better,  however,  were  we  actually  on  them, 
instead  of  being  on  this  floating  wreck." 

"  The  rocks  will  never  sink,"  said  Jack  Tier,  with  so  much 
emphasis  as  to  startle  the  listeners. 

"  I  do  not  think  this  hull  will  sink  until  we  are  taken  off  it, 
or  are  beyond  caring  whether  it  sink  or  swim,"  returned  Mul- 
ford. 

"  I  do  not  know  that,  Mr.  Mulford.  Nothing  keeps  us  up  but 
the  air  in  the  hold,  you  say." 

"  Certainly  not ;  but  that  air  will  suffice  as  long  as  it  remains 
there." 

"  And  what  do  you  call  these  things  ?"  rejoined  the  assistant 
steward,  pointing  at  the  water  near  him,  in  or  on  which  no  one 
else  saw  any  thing  w-orthy  of  attention. 

Mulford,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with   a  cursory  glance 


JACK     TIER.  240 

but  went  nearer  to  the  spot  where  Tier  was  standing.  Then, 
indeed,  he  saw  to  what  the  steward  alluded,  and  was  impressed 
by  it,  though  he  said  nothing.  Hundreds  of  little  bubbles  rose 
to  the  surface  of  the  water,  much  as  one  sees  them  rising  in 
springs.  These  bubbles  are  often  met  with  in  lakes  and  other 
comparatively  shallow  waters,  but  they  are  rarely  seen  in  those 
of  the  ocean.  The  mate  understood,  at  a  glance,  that  those  he 
now  beheld  were  produced  by  the  air  which  escaped  from  the 
hold  of  the  wreck ;  in  small  quantities  at  a  time,  it  was  true 
but  by  a  constant  and  increasing  process.  The  great  pressure 
of  the  water  forced  this  air  through  crevices  so  minute  that, 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  they  would  have  proved  impene- 
trable to  this,  as  they  were  still  to  the  other  fluid,  though  they 
now  permitted  the  passage  of  the  former.  It  might  take  a 
long  time  to  force  the  air  from  the  interior  of  the  vessel  by  such 
means,  but  the  result  was  as  certain  as  it  might  be  slow.  As 
constant  dropping  will  wear  a  stone,  so  might  the  power  that 
kept  the  wrreck  afloat  be  exhausted  by  the  ceaseless  rising  of 
these  minute  air-bubbles. 

Although  Mulford  was  entirely  sensible  of  the  nature  of  this 
new  source  of  danger,  we  cannot  say  he  was  much  affected  by 
it  at  the  moment.  It  seemed  to  him  far  more  probable  that 
they  must  die  of  exhaustion,  long  before  the  wreck  would  lose  all 
of  its  buoyancy  by  this  slow  process,  than  that  even  the  strongest 
of  their  number  could  survive  for  such  a  period.  The  new 
danger,  therefore,  lost  most  of  its  terrors  under  this  view  of  the 
subject,  though  it  certainly  did  not  add  to  the  small  sense  of 
security  that  remained,  to  know  that  inevitably  their  fate  must 
be  sealed  through  its  agency,  should  they  be  able  to  hold  out 
for  a  sufficient  time  against  hunger  and  thirst.  Il  caused  Mul- 
ford to  muse  in  silence  for  many  more  minutes. 

"I  hope  we. are  not  altogether  without  food,"  the  mate  at 
length  said.  "  It  sometimes  happens  that  persons  at  sea  carry 
pieces  of  biscuit  in  their  pockets,  especially  those  who  keep  watch 
at  night.     The  smallest  morsel  is  now  of  the  last  importance." 


250  JACK     TIE  11. 

At  this  suggestion,  every  one  set  about  an  examination.  The 
result  was,  that  neither  Mrs.  Budd  nor  Rose  had  a  particle  of 
food,  of  any  sort,  about  their  persons.  Biddy  produced  from 
her  pockets,  however,  a  whole  biscuit,  a  large  bunch  of  excel- 
lent raisins  that  she  had  filched  from  the  steward's  stores,  and 
two  apples, — the  last  being  the  remains  of  some  fruit  that 
Spike  had  procured  a  month  earlier  in  New  York.  Mulford 
tad  half  a  biscuit,  at  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to  nibble 
in  his  watches  ;  and  Jack  lugged  out,  along  with  a  small  plug 
of  tobacco,  a  couple  of  sweet  oranges.  Here,  then,  was  every 
thing  in  the  shape  of  victuals  or  drink,  that  could  be  found 
for  the  use  of  five  persons,  in  all  probability  for  many  days. 
The  importance  of  securing  it  for  equal  distribution,  was  so  ob- 
vious, that  Mulford's  proposal  to  do  so  met  with  a  common  as- 
sent. The  whole  was  put  in  Mrs.  Bucld's  bag,  and  she  was 
intrusted  with  the  keeping  of  this  precious  store. 

"  It  may  be  harder  to  abstain  from  food  at  first,  when  we 
have  not  suffered  from  its  want,  than  it  will  become  after  a  little 
endurance,"  said  the  mate.  "  We  are  now  strong,  and  it  will 
be  wiser  to  fast  as  long  as  we  conveniently  can,  to-day,  and 
relieve  our  hunger  by  a  moderate  allowance  towards  evening, 
than  to  waste  our  means  by  too  much  indulgence  at  a  time 
when  we  are  strong.  "Weakness  will  be  sure  to  come  if  we  re- 
main long  on  the  wreck." 

"  Have  you  ever  suffered  in  this  way,  Barry  ?"  demanded 
Iiose,  with  interest. 

"  I  have,  and  that  dreadfully.  But  a  merciful  Providence 
came  to  my  rescue  then,  and  it  may  not  fail  me  now.  The 
seaman  is  accustomed  to  carry  his  life  in  his  hand,  and  to  live 
on  the  edge  of  eternity." 

The  truth  of  this  was  so  apparent  as  to  produce  a  thought- 
ful silence.  Anxious  glances  were  cast  around  the  horizon 
from  time  to  time,  in  quest  of  any  sail  that  might  come  in 
sight,  but  uselessly.  None  appeared,  and  the  day  advanced 
without  bringing  the  slightest  prospect  of  relief.    Mulford  could 


JACK     TIER.  251 

Bee,  by  the  now  almost  sunken*  hummocks,  that  they  were 
slowly  drifting  along  the  reef,  towards  the  southward  and  east-, 
ward,  a  current  no  doubt  acting  slightly  from  the  northwest. 
Their  proximity  to  the  reef,  however,  was  of  no  advantage,  as  the 
distance  was  still  so  great  as  to  render  any  attempt  to  reach  it, 
even  on  the  part  of  the  mate,  unavailable.  Nor  would  he  have 
been  any  better  off  could  he  have  gained  a  spot  on  the  rocks 
that  was  shallow  enough  to  admit  of  his  walking,  since  wading 
about  in  such  a  place  would  have  been  less  desirable  than  to  be 
floating  where  he  was. 

The  want  of  water  to  drink  threatened  to  be  the  great  evil. 
Of  this  the  party  on  the  wreck  had  not  a  single  drop  !  As  the 
warmth  of  the  day  was  added  to  the  feverish  feeling  produced 
by  excitement,  they  all  experienced  thirst,  though  no  one  mur- 
mured. So  utterly  without  means  of  relieving  this  necessity 
did  each  person  know  them  all  to  be,  that  no  one  spoke  on  the 
subject  at  all.  In  fact,  shipwreck  never  produced  a  more  com- 
plete destitution  of  all  the  ordinary  agents  of  helping  them- 
selves, in  any  form  or  manner,  than  was  the  case  here.  So  sud- 
den and  complete  had  been  the  disaster,  that  not  a  single  article, 
beyond  those  on  the  persons  of  the  sufferers,  came  even  in  view. 
The  masts,  sails,  rigging,  spare  spars,  in  a  word,  every  thing 
helonging  to  the  vessel  was  submerged  and  hidden  from  their 
sight,  with  the  exception  of  a  portion  of  the  vessel's  bottom, 
which  might  be  forty  feet  in  length,  and  some  ten  or  fifteen  in 
width,  including  that  which  was  above  water  on  both  sides  of 
the  keel,  though  one  only  of  these  sides  was  available  to  the 
females,  as  a  place  to  move  about  on.  Ilad  Mulford  only  a 
boat-hook,  he  would  have  felt  it  a  relief;  for  not  only  did  the 
sharks  increase  in  number,  but  they  grew  more  audacious,  swim- 
ming so  near  the  wreck  that,  more  than  once,  Mulford  appre- 
hended that  some  one  of  the  boldest  of  them  might  make  an 
effort  literally  to  board  them.  It  is  true,  he  had  never  known  of 
one  of  these  fishes  attempting  to  quit  his  own  element  in  pur- 
suit of  his  prey ;  but  such   things  were  reported,   and  those 


252  JACK     TIER. 

around  the  wreck  swam  so  cfose,  and  seemed  so  eager  to  get  at 
those  who  were  on  it,  that  there  really  might  he  some  excuse 
for  fancying  they  might  resort  to  unusual  means  of  effecting 
their  ohject.  It  is  probable  that,  like  all  other  animals,  they 
were  emboldened  by  their  own  numbers,  and  were  acting  in  a 
sort  of  concert,  that  was  governed  by  some  of  the  many  mys- 
terious laws  of  nature  that  have  still  escaped  human  observa- 
tion. 

Thus  passed  the  earlier  hours  of  that  appalling  day.  Towards 
noon,  Mulford  had  insisted  on  the  females  dividing  one  of  the 
oranges  between  them,  and  extracting  its  juice  by  way  of  as- 
suaging their  thirst.  The  effect  was  most  grateful,  as  all  ad- 
mitted, and  even  Mrs.  Budd  urged  Harry  and  Tier  to  take  a 
portion  of  the  remaining  orange ;  but  this  both  steadily  re- 
fused. Mulford  did  consent  to  receive  a  small  portion  of  one  of 
the  apples,  more  with  a  view  of  moistening  his  throat  than  to 
appease  his  hunger,  though  it  had,  in  a  slight  degree,  the  latter 
effect  also.  As  for  Jack  Tier,  he  declined  even  the  morsel  of 
apple,  saying  that  tobacco  answered  his  purpose,  as  indeed  it 
temporarily  might. 

It  was  near  sunset  when  the  steward's  assistant  called  Mul- 
ford aside,  and  whispered  to  him  that  he  had  something  private 
to  communicate.  The  mate  bade  him  say  on,  as  they  were  out 
of  ear-shot  of  their  companions. 

"  I've  been  in  sitiations  like  this  afore,"  said  Jack,  "  and  one 
Tarns  exper'ence  by  exper'ence.  I  know  how  cruel  it  is  on  the 
feelin's  to  have  the  hopes  disappointed  in  these  cases,  and  there- 
fore shall  proceed  with  caution.  But,  Mr.  Mulford,  there's  a 
sail  in  sight,  if  there's  a  drop  of  water  in  the  Gulf!" 

"  A  sail,  Jack  !     I  trust  in  Heaven  you  are  not  deceived  !" 

"  Old  eyes  are  true  eyes  in  such  matters,  sir.  Be  careful  not 
to  start  the  women.  They  go  off  like  gunpowder,  and,  Lord 
help  'em !  have  no  more  command  over  themselves,  when  you 
loosen  'em  once,.than  so  many  flying-fish  with  a  dozen  dolphins 
a'ter  them.     Look  hereaway,  sir,  just  clear  of  the  Irishwoman's 


JACK     TIER.  ~OC 

bonnet,  a  little  broad  off  the  spot  where  the  reef  was  last  seen — 
if  that  ain't  a  sail,  nay  name  is  not  Jack  Tier." 

A  sail  there  was,  sure  enough !  It  was  so  very  distant,  how- 
ever, as  to  render  its  character  still  uncertain,  though  Mulford 
fancied  it  was  a  square-rigged  vessel  heading  to  the  northward. 
By  its  position,  it  must  be  in  one  of  the  channels  of  the  reef, 
and  by  its  course,  if  he  were  not  deceived,  it  was  standing 
through,  from  the  main  passage  along  the  southern  side  of  the 
rocks,  to  come  out  on  the  northern.  All  this  was  favorable, 
and  at  first  the  young  mate  felt  such  a  throbbing  of  the  heart 
as  we  all  experience  when  great  and  unexpected  good  intelli- 
gence is  received.  A  moment's  reflection,  however,  made  him 
aware  how  little  was  to  be  hoped  for  from  this  vessel.  In  the 
first  place,  her  distance  was  so  great  as  to  render  it  uncertain 
even  which  way  she  was  steering.  Then,  there  wras  the  proba- 
bility that  she  would  pass  at  so  great  a  distance  as  to  render  it 
impossible  to  perceive  an  object  so  low  as  the  wreck,  and  the 
additional  chance  of  her  passing  in  the  night.  Under  all  the 
circumstances,  therefore,  Mulford  felt  convinced  that  there  was 
very  little  probability  of  their  receiving  any  succor  from  the 
strange  sail ;  and  he  fully  appreciated  Jack  Tier's  motive  in 
forbearing  to  give  the  usual  call  of  "  Sail  ho  !"  when  he  made 
this  discovery.  Still,  he  could  not  deny  himself  the  pleasure 
of  communicating  to  Rose  the  cheering  fact  that  a  vessel  was 
actually  in  sight.  She  could  not  reason  on  the  circumstances 
as  he  had  done,  and  might  at  least  pass  several  hours  of  com- 
parative happiness  by  believing  that  there  was  some  visible 
chance  of  delivery. 

The  females  received  the  intelligence  with  very  different  de- 
grees of  hope.  Rose  was  delighted.  To  her  their  rescue 
appeared  an  event  so  very  probable  now,  that  Harry  Mulford 
almost  regretted  he  had  given  rise  to  an  expectation  which  he 
himself  feared  was  to  be  disappointed.  The  feelings  of  Mrs. 
Budd  were  more  suppressed.  The  wreck  and  her  present  situ- 
ation were  so  completely  at  variance  with  all  her  former  notions 


254  JACK     T1EK. 

of  the  sea  and  its  incidents,  that  she  was  almost  dumb-founded, 
and  feared  either  to  speak  or  to  think.  Biddy  differed  from 
either  of  her  mistresses — the  young  or  the  old  ;  she  appeared  to 
have  lost  all  hope,  and  her  physical  energy  -was  fast  giving  way 
under  her  profound  moral  debility. 

From  the  return  of  light  that  day,  Mulford  had  thought,  if  it 
were  to  prove  that  Providence  had  withdrawn  its  protecting 
baud  from  them,  Biddy,  who  to  all  appearance  ought  to  be  the 
longest  liver  among  the  females  at  least,  would  be  the  first  to 
sink  under  her  sufferings.  Such  is  the  influence  of  moral  causes 
on  the  mere  animal. 

Rose  saw  the  night  shut  in  around  them,  amid  the  solemn 
solitude  of  the  ocean,  with  a  mingled  sensation  of  awe  and  hope. 
She  had  prayed  devoutly,  and  often,  in  the  course  of  the  pre- 
ceding day,  and  her  devotions  had  contributed  to  calm  her 
spirits.  Once  or  twice,  while  kneeling  with  her  head  bowed  to 
the  keel,  she  had  raised  her  eyes  towards  Harry  with  a  look  of 
entreaty,  as  if  she  would  implore  him  to  humble  his  proud  spirit 
and  place  himself  at  her  side,  and  ask  that  succor  from  God 
which  was  so  much  needed,  and  which  indeed  it  began  most 
seriously  to  appear  that  God  alone  could  yield.  The  young 
mate  did  not  comply,  for  his  pride  of  profession  and  of  man- 
hood offered  themselves  as  stumbling-blocks  to  prevent  submis- 
sion to  his  secret  wishes.  Though  he  rarely  prayed,  Harry 
Mulford  was  far  from  being  an  unbeliever,  or  one  altogether 
regardless  of  his  duties  and  obligations  to  his  divine  Creator. 
On  the  contrary,  his  heart  was  more  disposed  to  resort  to  such 
means  of  self-abasement  and  submission  than  he  put  in  practice, 
and  this  because  he  had  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  mariner  did  not  call  on  Hercules,  on  every  occasion  of 
difficulty  and  distress  that  occurred,  as  was  the  fashion  with  the 
Italian  and  Ptomish  seamen,  but  he  put  his  own  shoulder  to  the 
wheel,  confident  that  Hercules  would  not  forget  to  help  him 
who  knew  how  to  help  himself.  But  Harry  had  great  difficulty 
in  withstanding  Rose's  silent  appeal  that  evening,  as  she  knelt 


JACK     TIER.  255 

at  the  keel  for  the  last  time,  and  turned  her  gentle  eyes  upward 
at  him,  as  if  to  ask  him  once  more  to  take  his  place  at  her  side. 
Withstand  the  appeal  he  did,  however,  though  in  liis  inward 
spirit  he  prayed  fervently  to  God  to  put  away  this  dreadful 
affliction  from  the  young  and  innocent  creature  before  him. 
When  these  evening  devotions  were  ended,  the  whole  party  be- 
came thoughtful  and  silent. 

It  was  necessary  to  sleep,  and  arrangements  were  made  to  do 
so,  if  possible,  with  a  proper  regard  for  their  security.  Mulford 
and  Tier  were  to  have  the  look-out,  watch  and  watch.  This 
was  done  that  no  vessel  might  pass  near  them  unseen,  aud  that 
any  change  in  the  weather  might  be  noted  and  looked  to.  As  it 
was,  the  wind  had  fallen,  and  seemed  about  to  vary,  though  it 
yet  stood  in  its  old  quarter,  or  a  little  more  easterly,  perhaps. 
As  a  consequence,  the  drift  of  the  wreck,  insomuch  as  it  de- 
pended on  the  currents  of  the  air,  was  more  nearly  in  a  line 
with  the  direction  of  the  reef,  and  there  was  little  ground  for 
apprehending  that  they  might  be  driven  further  from  it  in  the 
night.  Although  that  reef  offered  in  reality  no  place  of  safety, 
that  was  available  to  his  part}',  Mulford  felt  it  as  a  sort  of  relief, 
to  be  certain  that  it  was  not  distant,  possibly  influenced  by  a 
vague  hope  that  some  passing  wrecker  or  turtler  might  yet  pick 
them  up. 

The  bottom  of  the  schooner  and  the  destitute  condition  of  the 
party  admitted  of  only  very  simple  arrangements  for  the  night. 
The  females  placed  themselves  against  the  keel  in  the  best  man- 
ner they  could,  and  thus  endeavored  to  get  a  little  of  the  rest 
they  so  much  needed.  The  day  had  been  warm,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  and  the  contrast  produced  by  the  setting  of  the  sun 
was  at  first  rather  agreeable  than  otherwise.  Luckily  Rose  had 
thrown  a  shawl  over  her  shoulders  not  long  before  the  vessel 
capsized,  and  in  this  shawl  she  had  been  saved.  It  had  been 
dried,  and  it  now  served  for  a  light  covering  to  herself  and  her 
aunt,  and  added  essentially  to  their  comfort.  As  for  Biddy,  she 
was  too  hardy  to  need  a  shawl,  and  she  protested  that  she 


256  JACK     TIER. 

should  Dot  think  of  using  one,  had  she  been  better  provided. 
The  patient,  meek  manner  in  which  that  humble,  but  generous- 
hearted  creature  submitted  to  her  fate,  and  the  earnestness  with 
which  she  had- begged  that  "Miss  Rosy"  might  have  her  mor- 
sel of  the  portion  of  biscuit  each  received  for  a  supper,  had 
sensibly  impressed  Mulford  in  her  favor ;  and  knowing  how 
much  more  necessary  food  was  to  sustain  one  of  her  robust 
frame  and  sturdy  habits,  than  to  Rose,  he  had  contrived  to  give 
the  woman,  unknown  to  herself,  a  double  allowauce.  Nor  was 
it  surprising  that  Biddy  did  not  detect  this  little  act  of  fraud  in 
h3r  favor,  for  this  double  allowance  was  merely  a  single  mouth- 
ful. The  want  of  water  had  made  itself  much  more  keenly  felt 
than  the  want  of  food,  for  as  yet  anxiety,  excitement,  and  ap- 
prehension prevented  the  appetite  from  being  much  awakened, 
while  the  claims  of  thirst  were  increased  rather  than  diminished, 
by  these  very  causes.  Still,  no  one  had  complained,  on  this  or 
any  other  account,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  long  and  weary 
day  which  had  passed. 

Mulford  took  the  first  look-out,  with  the  intention  of  catch- 
ing a  little  sleep,  if  possible,  during  the  middle  hours  of  the 
night,  and  of  returning  to  his  duty  as  morning  approached. 
For  the  first  hour  nothing  occurred  to  divert  his  attention  from 
brooding  on  the  melancholy  circumstances  of  their  situation. 
It  seemed  as  if  all  around  him  had  actually  lost  the  sense  of 
their  cares  in  sleep,  and  no  sound  was  audible  amid  that  ocean 
waste,  but  the  light  washing  of  the  water,  as  the  gentle  waves 
rolled  at  intervals  against  the  weather-side  of  the  wreck.  It 
was  now  that  Mulford  found  a  moment  for  prayer,  and  seated 
on  the  keel,  he  called  on  the  Divine  aid,  in  a  fervent  but 
silent  petition  to  God,  to  put  away  this  trial  from  the  youthful 
and  beautiful  Rose,  at  least,  though  he  himself  perished.  It 
was  the  first  prayer  that  Mulford  had  made  in  many  months,  or 
since  he  had  joined  the  Swash — a  craft  in  which  that  duty  was 
very  seldom  thought  of. 

A  few  minutes  succeeded  this  petition,  when  Biddy  spoke: 


JACK     TIER.  2F>1 

"Missus — Madam  Bud  J — dear  Missus" — half  whispered  the 
Irish  woman,  anxious  not  to  disturb  Rose,  who  lay  furthest  from 
her — "  Missus,  bees  ye  asleep  at  sich  a  time  as  this  ?" 

"  No,  Biddy  ;  sleep  and  I  are  strangers  to  each  other,  and  are 
likely  to  be  till  morning.     What  do  you  wish  to  say  V 

"Any  thing  is  betther  than  my  own  t'oughts,  missus  dear,  and 
I  wants  to  talk  to  ye.  Is  it  no  wather  at  all  they'll  give  us  so 
long  as  we  stay  in  this  place  ?" 

"  There  is  no  one  to  give  it  to  us  but  God,  poor  Biddy,  and 
he  alone  can  say  what,  in  his  gracious  mercy,  it  may  please 
him  to  do.  Ah  !  Biddy,  I  fear  me  that  I  did  an  unwise  and 
thoughtless  thing  to  bring  my  poor  Rose  to  such  a  place  as 
this.  Were  it  to  be  done  over  again,  the  riches  of  Wall-street 
would  not  tempt  me  to  be  guilty  of  so  wrong  a  thing !" 

The  arm  -of  Rose  was  thrown  around  her  aunt's  neck,  and 
its  gentle  pressure  announced  how  completely  the  offender  was 
forgiven. 

"  I's  very  sorry  for  Miss  Rose,"  rejoined  Biddy,  "  and  I  suf- 
fers so  much  the  more  meself  in  thinking  how  hard  it  must  be 
for  the  like  of  her  to  be  wantin'  in  a  swallow  of  fresh  wather." 

"  It  is  no  harder  for  me  to  bear  it,  poor  Biddy,"  answered  the 
gentle  voice  of  our  heroine,  "  than  it  is  for  yourself." 

"  Is  it  meself,  then  ?  Sure  am  I,  that  if  I  had  a  quar-r-t 
of  good  swate  wather  from  our  own  pump,  and  that's  far  betther 
is  it  than  the  Crothon,  the  best  day  the  Crothon  ever  seed — 
but  had  I  a  quar-r-t  of  it,  every  dhrap  wTould  I  give  to  you, 
Miss  Rose,  to  app'ase  your  thirst,  I  would." 

"  Water  would  be  a  great  relief  to  us  all,  just  now,  my  ex- 
cellent Biddy,"  answered  Rose,  "and  I  wish  we  had  but  a 
tumbler  full  of  that  you  name,  to  divide  equally  among  the 
whole  five  of  us." 

"  Is  it  divide  ?  Then  it  would  be  ag'in  dividin'  that  my 
voice  would  be  raised,  for  that  same  r'ason  that  the  tumbler 
would  never  hold  as  much  as  you  could  dhrink  yourself,  Miss 
Rose." 


258  JACK     TIER. 

"  Yet  the  tumbler  full  would  be  a  great  blessing  for  us  all 
j  ust  now,"  murmured  Mrs.  Budd. 

"  And  isn't  mutthon  good  'atin',  ladies  ?  Ocb  !  if  I  bad  but 
a  good  swate  pratie,  now,  from  my  own  native  Ireland,  and  a 
dhrap  of  milk  to  help  wasb  it  down  !  It's  mighty  little  that  a 
body  thinks  of  sich  thrifles  when  there's  abundance  of  them ; 
but  when  there's  none  at  all,  they  get  to  be  stronger  in  the 
mind  than  riches  and  honors." 

"You  say  the  truth,  Biddy,"  rejoined  the  mistress,  "and 
there  is  a  pleasure  in  talking  of  them,  if  one  can't  enjoy  them. 
I've  been  thinking  all  the  afternoon,  Rose,  what  a  delicious 
food  is  a  good  roast  turkey,  with  cranberry  sauce  ;  and  I  won- 
der, now,  that  I  have  not  been  more  grateful  for  the  very  many 
that  Providence  has  bestowed  on  me  in  my  time.  My  poor 
Mr.  Budd  was  passionately  fond  of  mutton,  and  I  used  wickedly 
to  laugh  at  his  fondness  for  it,  sometimes,  when  he  always  had 
his  answer  ready,  and  that  was,  that  there  are  no  sheep  at  sea  ! 
How  true  that  is,  Rosy  dear !  there  are,  indeed,  no  sheep  at 
sea !" 

"  No,  aunty,"  answered  Rose's  gentle  voice  from  beneath' 
the  shawl ; — "  there  are  no  such  animals  on  the  ocean,  but  God 
is  with  us  here  as  much  as  he  would  be  in  New  York." 

A  long  silence  succeeded  this  simple  remark  of  his  well 
beloved,  and  the  young  mate  hoped  that  there  would  be  no 
more  of  a  dialogue,  every  syllable  of  which  was  a  dagger  to 
his  feelings.  But  nature  was  stronger  than  reflection  in  Mrs. 
Budd  and  Biddy,  and  the  latter  spoke  again,  after  a  pause  of 
near  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

"  Pray  for  me,  Missus,"  she  said,  moaningly,  "  that  I  may 
sleep.  A  bit  of  sleep  would  do  a  body  almost  as  much  good 
as  a  bit  of  bread — I  won't  say  as  much  as  a  dhrap  of  wather." 

"  Be  quiet,  Biddy,  and  we  will  pray  for  you,"  answered 
Rose,  who  fancied  by  her  breathing  that  her  aunt  was  about 
to  forget  her  sufferings  for  a  brief  space,  in  broken  slumbers. 

"  Is  it  for  you  I'll   do   that — and  sure  will  I,    Miss  Rose. 


JACK     TIER.  259 

Nivev  would  I  have  quitted  Ireland,  could  I  have  thought 
there  was  sich  a  spot  on  this  earth  as  a  place  where  no  wather 
was  to  be  had." 

This  was  the  last  of  Biddy's  audible  complaints,  for  the  re- 
mainder of  this  long  and  anxious  watch  of  Mulford.  He  then 
set  himself  about  an  arrangement  which  shall  be  mentioned 
in  its  proper  place.  At  twelve  o'clock,  or  when  he  thought 
it  was  twelve,  he  called  Jack  Tier,  who  in  turn  called  the  mate 
again  at  four. 

"  It  looks  dark  and  threatening,"  said  Mulford,  as  he  rose  to 
his  feet  and  began  to  look  about  him  once  more,  "though 
there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  wind." 

"  It's  a  flat  calm,  Mr.  Mate,  and  the  darkness  comes  from 
yonder  cloud,  which  seems  likely  to  bring  a  little  rain." 

"  Rain  !  Then  God  is  indeed  with  us  here.  You  are  right, 
Jack ;  rain  must  fall  from  that  cloud.  We  must  catch  some 
of  it,  if  it  be  only  a  drop  to  cool  Rose's  parched  tongue." 

"  In  what  ?"  answered  Tier,  gloomily.  "  She  may  wring  her 
clothes  when  the  shower  is  over,  and  in  that  way  get  a  drop. 
I  see  no  other  method." 

"  I  have  bethought  me  of  all  that,  and  passed  most  of  my 
watch  in  making  the  preparations." 

Mulford  then  showed  Tier  what  he  had  been  about,  in  the 
long  and  solitary  hours  of  the  first  watch.  It  would  seem  that 
the  young  man  had  dug  a  little  trench  with  his  knife,  along 
the  schooner's  bottom,  commencing  two  or  three  feet  from  the 
keel,  and  near  the  spot  where  Rose  was  lying,  and  carrying  it 
as  far  as  was  convenient  towards  the  run,  until  he  reached  a 
point  where  he  had  dug  out  a  sort  of  reservoir  to  contain  the 
precious  fluid,  should  any  be  sent  them  by  Providence.  While 
doing  this,  there  were  no  signs  of  rain ;  but  the  young  man 
knew  that  a  shower  alone  could  save  them  from  insanity,  if 
Lot  from  death ;  and  in  speculating  on  the  means  of  profiting 
by  one,  should  it  come,  he  had  bethought  him  of  this  expe- 
dient.    The  large  knife  of  a  seaman  had  served  him  a  good 


2G0  JACK     TIER. 

turn  in  carrying  on  Lis  work,  to  complete  which  there  remained 
now  very  little  to  do,  and  that  was  in  enlarging  the  receptacle 
for  the  water.  The  hole  was  already  big  enough  to  contain  a 
pint,  and  it  might  easily  be  sufficiently  enlarged  to  hold  double 
that  quantity. 

Jack  was  no  sooner  made  acquainted  with  what  had  been 
done,  than  he  out  knife  and  commenced  tearing  splinter  after 
splinter  from  the  planks,  to  help  enlarge  the  reservoir.  This 
could  only  be  done  by  cutting  on  the  surface,  for  the  wood 
was  not  three  inches  in  thickness,  and  the  smallest  hole 
through  the  plank,  would  have  led  to  the  rapid  escape  of  the 
air,  and  to  the  certain  sinking  of  the  wreck.  It  required  a 
good  deal  of  judgment  to  preserve  the  necessary  level  also,  and 
Mulford  was  obliged  to  interfere  more  than  once  to  prevent 
his  companion  from  doing  more  harm  than  good.  He  suc- 
ceeded, however,  and  had  actually  made  a  cavity  that  might 
contain  more  than  a  quart  of  water,  when  the  first  large  drop 
fell  from  the  heavens.  This  cavity  was  not  a  hole,  but  a  long, 
deep  trench — deep  for  the  circumstances — so  nicely  cut  on  the 
proper  level,  as  to  admit  of  its  holding  a  fluid  in  the  quantity 
mentioned. 

''  Rose — dearest — rise,  and  be  ready  to  drink,"  said  Mulford, 
tenderly  disturbing  the  uneasy  slumbers  of  his  beloved.  "  It  is 
about  to  rain,  and  God  is  with  us  here,  as  he  might  be  on  the 
land." 

"  "Wather  !"  exclaimed  Biddy,  who  was  awoke  with  the  same 
call.  "  What  a  blessed  thing  is  good  swate  wather,  and  sure 
am  I  we  ought  all  to  be  thankful  that  there  is  such  a  precious 
gift  in  the  wor-r-ld." 

"Come,  then,"  said  Mulford,  hurriedly,  "it  will  soon  rain — I 
hear  it  pattering  on  the  sea.  Come  hither,  all  of  you,  and 
drink,  as  a  merciful  God  furnishes  the  means." 

This  summons  was  not  likely  to  be  neglected.  All  arose  in 
haste,  and  the  word  "  water"  was  murmured  from  every  lip. 
Biddy  had  less  self-command  than  the  others,  and  she  was  heard 


JACK      TIER.  261 

Baying  aloud, — "  Och !  and  didn't  I  dhrame  of  the  blessed 
springs  and  wells  of  Ireland  the  night,  and  haven't  I  dhrunk 
at  'em  all  ?  But  now  it's  over,  and  I  am  awake,  no  good  has't 
done  me,  and  I'm  ready  to  die  for  one  dhrap  of  wather." 

That  drop  soon  came,  however,  and  with  it  the  blessed  relief 
which  such  a  boou  bestows.  Mulford  had  barely  time  to  explain 
his  arrangements,  and  to  place  the  party,  on  their  knees,  along 
his  little  reservoir  and  the  gutter  which  led  to  it,  when  the 
pattering  of  the  rain  advanced  along  the  sea,  with  a  deep  rush- 
ing sound.  Presently,  the  uplifted  faces  and  open  mouths 
caught  a  few  heavy  straggling  drops,  to  cool  the  parched 
tongues,  when  the  water  came  tumbling  down  upon  them  in  a 
thousand  little  streams.  There  was  scarcely  any  wind,  and 
merely  the  skirt  of  a  large  black  cloud  floated  over  the  wreck, 
on  which  the  rain  fell  barely  one  minute.  But  it  fell  as  rain 
comes  down  within  the  tropics,  and  in  sufficient  quantities  for 
all  present  purposes.  Everybody  drank  and  found  relief;  and, 
when  all  was  over,  Mulford  ascertained  by  examination  that 
his  receptacle  for  the  fluid  was  still  full  to  overflowing.  The 
abstinence  had  not  been  of  sufficient  length,  nor  the  quantity 
taken  of  large  enough  amount,  to  produce  injury,  though  the 
thirst  was  generally  and  temporarily  appeased.  It  is  probable 
that  the  coolness  of  the  hour,  day  dawning  as  the  cloud  moved 
past,  and  the  circumstance  that  the  sufferers  wTere  wetted  to 
their  skins,  contributed  to  the  change. 

"  Och,  blessed,  blessed  wather !"  exclaimed  Biddy,  as  she 
rose  from  her  knees ;  "  America,  afther  all,  isn't  as  dhry  a 
country  as  some  say.  I've  niver  tasted  swater  wather  in  Ire- 
land itself !" 

Rose  murmured  her  thanksgiving  in  more  appropriate  lan- 
guage. A  few  exclamations  also  escaped  Mrs.  Budd,  and  Jack 
Tier  had  his  sententious  eulogy  on  the  precious  qualities  of 
sweet  water. 

The  wind  rose  as  the  day  advanced,  and  a  swell  began  to 
heave  the  wreck  with  a  power  that  had  hitherto  been  dormant 


202  JACK     TIER. 

Mulford  understood  this  to  be  a  sign  that  there  had  been  a 
blow  at  some  distance  from  them,  that  had  thrown  the  sea 
into  a  state  of  agitation  which  extended  itself  beyond  the  in- 
fluence of  the  wind.  Eagerly  did  the  young  mate  examine 
the  horizon,  as  the  curtain  of  night  arose,  inch  by  inch,  as  it 
might  be,  on  the  watery  panorama,  in  the  hope  that  a  vessel 
of  some  sort  or  other  might  be  brought  within  the  view.  Nor 
was  he  wholly  disappointed.  The  strange  sail  seen  the  pre- 
vious evening  was  actually  there ;  and  what  was  more,  so  near 
as  to  allow  her  hull  to  be  distinctly  visible.  It  was  a  ship, 
under  her  square  canvas,  standing  from  between  divided  por- 
tions of  the  reef,  as  if  getting  to  the  northward,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  opposing  current  of  the  Gulf  Stream.  Vessels  bound 
to  Mobile,  New  Orleans,  and  other  ports  along  the  coast  of  the 
Republic,  in  that  quarter  of  the  ocean,  often  did  this ;  and 
when  the  young  mate  first  caught  glimpses  of  the  shadowy 
outline  of  this  ship,  he  supposed  it  to  be  some  packet,  or 
cotton-droger,  standing  for  her  port  on  the  northern  shore.  But 
a  few  minutes  removed  the  veil,  and  with  it  the  error  of  this 
notion.  A  seaman  could  no  longer  mistake  the  craft.  Her 
length,  her  square  and  massive  hamper,  with  the  symmetry  of 
her  spars,  and  the  long,  straight  outline  of  the  hull,  left  no 
doubt  that  it  was  a  cruiser,  with  her  hammocks  unstowed. 
Mulford  now  cheerfully  announced  to  his  companions,  that  the 
ship  they  so  plainly  saw,  scarcely  a  gun-shot  distant  from  them, 
was  the  sloop-of-war  which  had  already  become  a  sort  of  ac- 
quaintance. 

"  If  Ave  can  succeed  in  making  them  see  our  signal,"  cried 
Mulford,  "all  will  yet  be  well.  Come,  Jack,  and  help  me  to 
Dut  abroad  this  shawl,  the  only  ensign  we  can  show." 

The  shawl  of  Rose  was  the  signal  spread.  Tier  and  Mulford 
stood  on  the  keel,  and  holding  opposite  corners,  let  the  rest  01 
the  cloth  blow  out  with  the  wind.  For  near  an  hour  did  these 
;\vo  extend  their  arms,  and  try  all  possible  expedients  to  make 
their  signal  conspicuous.     But,  unfortunately,  the  wind  blew 


JACK     TIER.  2G3 

directly  towards  the  cruiser,  and  instead  of  exposing  a  surface 
of  any  breadth  to  the  vision  of  those  on  board  her,  it  must,  at 
most,  have  offered  little  more  than  a  flitting,  waving  line. 

As  the  day  advanced,  sail  was  made  on  the  cruiser.  She 
had  stood  through  the  passage,  in  which  she  had  been  becalm- 
ed most  of  the  night,  under  short  canvas ;  but  now  she  threw 
out  fold  after  fold  of  her  studding-sails,  and  moved  away  to  the 
westward,  with  the  stately  motion  of  a  ship  before  the  wind. 
No  sooner  had  she  got  far  enough  to  the  northward  of  the 
reef,  than  she  made  a  deviation  from  her  course  as  first  seen, 
turning  her  stern  entirely  to  the  wreck,  and  rapidly  becoming- 
less  and  less  distinct  to  the  eyes  of  those  who  floated  on  it. 

Mulford  saw  the  hopelessness  of  their  case,  as  it  respected 
relief  from  this  vessel ;  still,  he  persevered  in  maintaining  his 
position  on  the  keel,  tossing  and  Avaving  the  shawl,  in  all  the 
variations  that  his  ingenuity  could  devise.  He  well  knew, 
however,  that  their  chances  of  being  seen  would  have  been 
trebled  could  they  have  been  ahead  instead  of  astern  of  the 
ship.  Mariners  have  few  occasions  to  look  behind  them,  while 
a  hundred  watchful  eyes  are  usually  turned  ahead,  more  espe- 
cially when  running  near  rocks  and  shoals.  Mrs.  Budd  wept 
like  an  infant  when  she  saw  the  sloop-of-war  gliding  away, 
reaching  a  distance  that  rendered  sight  useless,  in  detecting  an 
object  that  floated  as  low  on  the  water  as  the  wreck.  As  for 
Biddy,  unable  to  control  her  feelings,  the  poor  creature  actual- 
ly called  to  the  crew  of  the  departing  vessel,  as  if  her  voice  had 
the  power  to  make  itself  heard,  at  a  distance  which  already  ex- 
ceeded two  leagues.  It  was  only  by  means  of  the  earnest 
remonstrances  of  Rose,  that  the  faithful  creature  could  be 
quieted, 

"Why  will  ye  not  come  to  our  relaif?"  she  cried  at  the  top 
of  her  voice.  "  Here  are  we,  helpless  as  new-born  babies,  and 
ye  sailing  away  from  us  in  a  conthrary  way !  D'ye  not  be- 
think you  of  the  Missus,  who  is  much  of  a  sailor,  but  not  sich 
a  one  as  to  sail  on  a  wrack ;  and  poor  Miss  Rose,  who  is  the 


204  JACK      TIER. 

char-rm  and  delight  of  all  eyes.  Only  come  and  take  off  Miss 
Rose,  and  lave  the  rest  of  us,  if  ye  so  likes ;  for  it's  a  sin  and  a 
shame  to  lave  the  likes  of  her  to  die  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean, 
as  if  she  was  no  betther  nor  a  fish.  Then  it  will  be  soon  that 
we  shall  ag'in  feel  the  want  of  wather,  and  that,  too,  with  no- 
thing- but  wather  to  be  seen  on  all  sides  of  us." 

"It  is  of  no  use,"  said  Harry,  mournfully,  stepping  down 
from  the  keel,  and  laying  aside  the  shawl.  "  They  cannot  see 
us,  and  the  distance  is  now  so  great  as  to  render  it  certain  they 
never  will.  There  is  only  one  hope  left.  We  are  evidently  set 
to  and  fro  by  the  tides,  and  it  is  possible  that  by  keeping  in  or 
near  this  passage,  some  other  craft  may  appear,  and  we  be 
more  fortunate.  The  relief  of  the  rain  is  a  sign  that  we  are 
not  forgotten  by  Divine  Providence,  and  with  such  a  protector 
we  ought  not  to  despair." 

A  gloomy  and  scanty  breaking  of  the  fast  succeeded.  Each 
person  had  one  large  mouthful  of  bread,  which  was  all  that 
prudence  would  authorize  Mulford  to  distribute.  lie  attempt- 
ed a  pious  fraud,  however,  by  placing  his  own  allowance  along 
with  that  of  Rose's,  under  the  impression  that  her  strength 
might  not  endure  privation  as  well  as  his  own.  But  the  tender 
solicitude  of  Rose  was  not  to  be  thus  deceived.  Judging  of 
his  wishes  and  motives  by  her  own,  she  at  once  detected  the 
deception,  and  insisted  on  retaining  no  more  than  her  proper 
share.  When  this  distribution  was  completed,  and  the  meager 
allowance  taken,  only  sufficient  bread  remained  to  make  one 
more  similar  scanty  meal,  if  meal  a  single  mouthful  could  be 
termed.  As  for  the  water,  a  want  of  which  would  be  certain 
to  be  felt  as  soon  as  the  sun  obtained  its  noonday  power,  the 
shawl  was  extended  over  it,  in  a  way  to  prevent  evaporation  as 
much  as  possible,  and  at  the  same  time  to  offer  some  resistance 
to  the  fluid's  being  washed  from  its  shallow  receptacle  by  the 
motion  of  the  wreck,  which  was  sensibly  increasing  with  the 
increase  of  the  wind  and  waves. 

Mulford  had  next  an  anxious  duty  to  perform.     Throughout 


JACK     TIER.  265 

the  whole  of  the  preceding  day  he  had  seen  the  air  escaping 
from  the  hull,  in  an  incessant  succession  of  small  hubhles, 
which  were  formidable  through  their  numbers,  if  not  through 
their  size.  The  mate  was  aware  that  this  unceasing  loss  of  the 
buoyant  property  of  the  wreck  must  eventually  lead  to  their 
destruction,  should  no  assistance  come,  and  he  had  marked  the 
floating  line,  on  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  with  his  knife,  ere 
darkness  set  in,  on  the  previous  evening.  No  sooner  did  his 
thoughts  recur  to  this  fact,  after  the  excitement  of  the  first 
hour  of  daylight  was  over,  than  he  stepped  to  the  different 
places  thus  marked,  and  saw,  with  an  alarm  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  describe,  that  the  wreck  had  actually  sunk  into  the 
water  several  inches  within  the  last  few  hours.  This  was,  in- 
deed, menacing  their  security  in  a  most  serious  manner,  setting 
a  limit  to  their  existence,  which  rendered  all  precaution  on  the 
subject  of  food  and  water  useless.  By  the  calculations  of  the 
mate,  the  wreck  could  not  float  more  than  eight-and-forty  hours, 
should  it  continue  to  lose  the  air  at  the  rate  at  which  it  had 
been  hitherto  lost.  Bad  as  all  this  appeared,  things  were  fated 
to  become  much  more  serious.  The  motion  of  the  water  quite 
sensibly  increased,  lifting  the  wreck  at  times  in  a  way  greatly 
to  increase  the  danger  of  their  situation.  The  reader  will 
understand  this  movement  did  not  proceed  from  the  waves  of 
the  existing  wind,  but  from  what  is  technically  called  a  ground 
swell,  or  the  long,  heavy  undulations  that  are  left  by  the  tempest 
that  is  past,  or  by  some  distant  gale.  The  waves  of  the  present 
breeze  were  not  very  formidable,  the  reef  making  a  lee  ;  though 
they  might  possibly  become  inconvenient  from  breaking  on  the 
weather  side  of  the  wreck,  as  soon  as  the  drift  carried  the  latter 
fairly  abreast  of  the  passage  already  mentioned.  But  the 
ilangers  that  proceeded  from  the  heavy  ground-swell,  which 
now  began  to  give  a  considerable  motion  to  the  wreck,  will 
best  explain  itself  by  narrating  the  incideuts  as  they  occurred. 

Harry  had  left  his  marks,  and  had  taken  his  seat  on  the  keel 
at  Rose's  side,  impatiently  waiting  for  any  turn  that  Providence 

12 


2()f>  JACK     T  I  E  li. 

might  next  give  to  their  situation,  when  a  heavy  roll  of  the 
wreck  first  attracted  his  attention  to  this  new  circumstance. 

"If  any  one  is  thirsty,"  he  observed  quietly,  "he  or  she  had 
better  drink  now,  while  it  may  be  done.  Two  or  three  more 
such  rolls  as  this  last  will  wash  all  the  water  from  our  gutters." 

"  Wather  is  a  blessed  thing,"  said  Biddy,  with  a  longing  ex- 
pression of  the  eyes,  "  and  it  would  be  betther  to  swallow  it 
than  to  let  it  be  lost." 

"  Then  drink,  for  Heaven's  sake,  good  woman — it  may  be 
the  last  occasion  that  will  offer." 

"Sure  am  I  that  I  would  not  touch  a  dhrap,  while  the  Mis- 
sus and  Miss  Rosy  was  a-sufferin'." 

"  I  have  no  thirst  at  all,"  answered  Rose,  sweetly,  "  and  have 
already  taken  more  water  than  was  good  for  me,  with  so  little 
food  on  my  stomach." 

"  Eat  another  morsel  of  the  bread,  beloved,"  whispered  Harry, 
in  a  manner  so  urgent  that  Rose  gratefully  complied.  "Drink, 
Biddy,  and  we  will  come  and  share  with  you  before  the  water 
is  wasted  by  this  increasing  motion." 

Biddy  did  as  desired,  and  each  knelt  in  turn  and  took  a 
little  of  the  grateful  fluid,  leaving  about  a  gill  in  the  gutters  for 
the  use  of  those  whose  lips  might  again  become  parched. 

"  Wather  is  a  blessed  thing,"  repeated  Biddy,  for  the  twen- 
tieth time — "  a  blessed,  blessed  thing  is  wather !" 

A  little  scream  from  Mrs.  Budd,  which  was  dutifully  taken 
up  by  the  maid,  interrupted  the  speech  of  the  latter,  and  every 
eye  was  turned  on  Mulford,  as  if  to  ask  an  explanation  of 
the  groaning  sound  that  had  been  heard  within  the  wreck.  The 
young  mate  comprehended  only  too  well.  The  rolling  of  the 
wreck  had  lifted  a  portion  of  the  open  hatchway  above  the  un- 
dulating surface  of  the  sea,  and  a  large  quantity  of  the  pent  air 
within  the  hold  had  escaped  in  a  body.  The  entrance  of  water 
to  supply  the  vacuum  had  produced  the  groan.  Mulford  had 
made  new  marks  on  the  vessel's  bottom  with  his  knife,  and  he 
stepped  down  to  them,  anxious  and  nearly  heart-broken,  to 


JACK      TIER.  207 

note  the  effect.  That  one  surging  of  the  wreck  had  permitted 
air  enough  to  escape  to  lower  it  in  the  water  several  inches 
As  yet,  however,  the  visible  limits  of  their  floating  foundation 
had  not  been  sufficiently  reduced  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
females;  and  the  young  man  said  nothing  on  the  subject.  He 
thought  that  Jack  Tier  was  sensible  of  the  existence  of  this  new 
source  of  danger,  but  if  he  were,  that  experienced  mariner 
imitated  his  owTn  reserve,  and  made  no  allusion  to  it.  Thus 
passed  the  day.  Occasionally  the  wreck  rolled  heavily,  when 
more  air  escaped,  the  hull  settling  lower  and  lower  in  the  water 
as  a  necessary  consequence.  The  little  bubbles  continued  inces- 
santly to  rise,  and  Mulford  became  satisfied  that  another  day 
must  decide  their  fate.  Taking  this  view  of  their  situation,  he 
saw  no  use  in  reserving  their  food,  but  encouraged  his  com- 
panions to  share  the  whole  of  what  remained  at  sunset.  Little 
persuasion  was  necessary,  and  when  night  once  more  came  to 
envelop  them  in  darkness,  not  a  mouthful  of  food  or  a  drop  of 
water  remained  to  meet  the  necessities  of  the  coming  morn.  It 
had  rained  again  for  a  short  time,  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon, 
when  enough  water  had  been  caught  to  allay  their  thirst,  and 
what  was  almost  of  as  much  importance  to  the  females  now,  a 
sufficiency  of  sun  had  succeeded  to  dry  their  clothes,  thus  en- 
abling them  to  sleep  without  enduring  the  chilling  damps  that 
might  otherwise  have  prevented  it.  The  wind  had  sensibly 
fallen,  and  the  ground-swell  was  altogether  gone,  but  Mulford 
was  certain  that  the  relief  had  come  too  late.  So  much  air 
had  escaped  while  it  lasted  as  scarce  to  leave  him  the  hope  that 
the  wreck  could  float  until  morning.  The  rising  of  the  bub- 
bles was  now  incessant,  the  crevices  by  which  they  escaped 
having  most  probably  opened  a  little,  in  consequence  of  the 
pressure  and  the  unceasing  action  of  the  currents,  small  as  the 
latter  were. 

Just  as  darkness  was  shutting  in  around  them  for  the  second 
time,  Rose  remarked  to  Mulford  that  it  seemed  to  her  that  they 
had  not  as  large  a  space  for  their  little  world  as  when  they  were 


2G8  JACK     TIER. 

first  placed  on  it.  The  mate,  however,  successfully  avoided  an 
explanation ;  and  when  the  watch  was  again  set  for  the  night, 
the  females  lay  down  to  seek  their  repose,  more  troubled  with 
apprehensions  for  a  morrow  of  hunger  and  thirst,  than  by  any 
just  fears  that  might  so  well  have  arisen  from  the  physical 
certainty  that  the  body  which  alone  kept  them  from  being 
engulfed  in  the  sea,  could  float  but  a  few  hours  longer.  This 
night  Tier  kept  the  look-out  until  Jupiter  reached  the  zenith, 
when  Mulford  was  called  to  hold  the  watch  until  light  re- 
turned. 

It  may  seem  singular  that  any  could  sleep  at  all  in  such  a 
situation.  But  we  get  accustomed,  in  an  incredibly  shoit  time, 
to  the  most  violent  changes ;  and  calamities  that  seem  insup- 
portable, when  looked  at  from  a  distance,  lose  half  their  power 
if  met  and  resisted  with  fortitude.  The  last  may,  indeed,  be 
too  insignificant  a  word  to  be  applied  to  all  of  the  party  on  the 
wreck,  on  the  occasion  of  which  we  are  writing,  though  no 
one  of  them  all  betrayed  fears  that  were  troublesome.  Of 
Mulford  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak.  His  deportment  had  been 
quiet,  thoughtful,  and  full  of  a  manly  interest  in  the  comfort 
of  others,  from  the  first  moment  of  the  calamity.  That  Rose 
should  share  the  largest  in  his  attentions  was  natural  enough, 
but  he  neglected  no  essential  duty  to  her  companions.  Rose, 
herself,  had  little  hope  of  being  rescued.  Her  naturally  cou- 
rageous character,  however,  prevented  any  undue  exhibitions 
of  despair,  and  now  it  was  that  the  niece  became  the  principal 
support  of  the  aunt,  completely  changing  the  relations  that 
had  formerly  existed  between  them.  Mrs.  Budd  had  lost  all 
the  little  buoyancy  of  her  mind.  Not  a  syllable  did  she  now 
utter  concerning  ships  and  their  manoeuvres.  She  had  been, 
at  first,  a  little  disposed  to  be  querulous  and  despairing,  but  tha 
soothing  and  pious  conversation  of  Rose  awakened  a  certain 
degree  of  resolution  in  her,  and  habit  soon  exercised  its  influ- 
ence over  even  her  inactive  mind.  Biddy  was  a  strange 
mixture  of  courage,   despair,  humility,  and   consideration  for 


JACK     TIER.  269 

others.  Not  once  bad  she  taken  her  small  allowance  of  food 
without  first  offering  it,  and  that,  too,  in  perfect  good  faith,  to 
her  "  Missus  and  Miss  Rosy ;"  yet  her  meanings  for  this  sort 
of  support,  and  her  complaints  of  bodily  suffering,  much  ex- 
ceeded that  of  all  the  rest  of  the  party  put  together.  As  for 
Jack  Tier,  his  conduct  singularly  belied  his  appearance.  No 
one  would  have  expected  any  great  show  of  manly  resolution 
from  the  little  rotund,  lymphatic  figure  of  Tier ;  but  he  had 
manifested  a  calmness  that  denoted  either  great  natural  cour- 
age, or  a  resolution  derived  from  familiarity  with  danger.  In 
this  particular,  even  Mulford  regarded  his  deportment  with 
surprise,  not  unmingled  with  respect. 

"  Yon  have  had  a  tranquil  watch,  Jack,"  said  Harry,  when 
he  was  called  by  the  person  named,  and  had  fairly  aroused 
himself  from  his  slumbers.  "  lias  the  wind  stood  as  it  is, 
since  sunset?" 

"  No  change  whatever,  sir.  It  has  blowed  a  good  working 
breeze  the  whole  watch,  and  what  is  surprising,  not  as  much 
lipper  has  got  up  as  would  frighten  a  colt  on  a  sea-beach." 

"  We  must  be  near  the  reef,  by  that.  I  think  the  only  cur- 
rents wTe  feel  come  from  the  tide,  and  they  seem  to  be  setting 
us  back  and  forth,  instead  of  carrying  us  in  any  one  settled 
direction." 

"  Quite  likely,  sir ;  and  this  makes  my  opinion  of  what  I 
saw  an  hour  since  all  the  more  probable." 

"  What  you  saw  !  In  the  name  of  a  merciful  Providence, 
Tier,  do  not  trifle  with  me !  Has  any  thing  been  seen  near 
by?" 

"  Don't  talk  to  me  of  your  liquors  and  other  dhrinks,"  mur- 
mured Biddy  in  her  sleep.  "  It's  wather  that  is  a  blessed 
thing  ;  and  I  wish  I  lived,  the  night  and  the  day,  by  the  swate 
pump  that's  in  our  own  yard,  I  do." 

"  The  woman  has  been  talking  in  her  sleep,  in  this  fashion, 
most  of  the  watch,"  observed  Jack,  coolly,  and  perhaps  a  little 
contemptuously.     "But,  Mr.  Mulford,  unless  my  eyes   have 


270  JACK     TIER. 

cheated  mc,  we  are  near  that  boat  again.  The  passage  through 
the  reef  is  close  aboard  here,  on  our  larboard  bow,  as  it  might 
be,  and  the  current  has  sucked  us  in  it  in  a  fashion  to  bring  it 
in  a  sort  of  athwart-hawse  direction  to  us." 

"  If  that  boat,  after  all,  should  be  sent  by  Providence  to  our 
relief!     How  long  is  it  since  you  saw  it,  Jack  ?" 

"  But  a  bit  since,  sir ;  or,  for  that  matter,  I  think  I  see  it 
now.  Look  hereaway,  sir,  just  where  the  dead-eyes  of  the 
fore-rigging  would  bear  from  us,  if  the  craft  stood  upon  her 
legs,  as  she  ought  to  do.  If  that  isn't  a  boat,  it's  a  rock  out 
of  water." 

Mulford  gazed  through  the  gloom  of  midnight,  and  saw,  or 
fancied  he  saw,  an  object  that  might  really  be  the  boat.  It 
could  not  be  very  distant,  either ;  and  his  mind  was  instantly 
made  up  as  to  the  course  he  would  pursue.  Should  it  actually 
turn  out  to  be  that  which  he  now  so  much  hoped  for,  and  its 
distance  in  the  rnoniing  did  not  prove  too  great  for  human 
powers,  he  was  resolved  to  swim  for  it  at  the  hazard  of  his  life. 
In  the  mean  time,  or  until  light  should  return,  there  remained 
nothing  to  do  but  to  exercise  as  much  patience  as  could  be 
summoned,  and  to  confide  in  God,  soliciting  his  powerful  suc- 
cor by  secret  prayer. 

Mulford  was  no  sooner  left  alone,  as  it  might  be,  by  Tier's 
seeking  a  place  in  which  to  take  his  rest,  than  he  again  ex- 
amined the  state  of  the  wreck.  Little  as  he  had  hoped  from 
its  long-continued  buoyancy,  he  found  matters  even  worse  than 
he  apprehended  they  would  be.  The  hull  had  lost  much  air, 
and  had  consequently  sunk  in  the  water  in  an  exact  proportion 
to  this  loss.  The  space  that  was  actually  above  the  water 
was  reduced  to  an  area  not  more  than  six  or  seven  feet  in  one 
direction,  by  some  ten  or  twelve  in  the  other.  This  was 
reducing  its  extent,  since  the  evening  previous,  by  fully  one 
half;  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  air  was  escaping, 
in  consequence  of  the  additional  pressure,  in  a  ratio  that  in- 
creased  by  a  sort  of  arithmetical    progression.     The  young 


JACK     TIER.  271 

Inaii  knew  that  the  whole  wreck,  under  its  peculiar  circum- 
stances, might  sink  entirely  beneath  the  surface,  and  yet 
possess  sufficient  buoyancy  to  sustain  those  who  were  on  it  for 
a  time  longer,  but  this  involved  the  terrible  necessity  of  leav- 
ing the  females  partly  submerged  themselves. 

Our  mate  heard  his  own  heart  beat  as  he  became  satisfied  of 
the  actual  condition  of  the  wreck,  and  of  the  physical  certainty 
that  existed  of  its  sinking,  at  least  to  the  point  last  mentioned, 
ere  the  sun  came  to  throw  his  glories  over  the  last  view  that 
the  sufferers  would  be  permitted  to  take  of  the  face  of  da}'.  It 
appeared  to  him  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost.  There  lay  the 
dim  and  shapeless  object  that  seemed  to  be  the  boat,  distant,  as 
he  thought,  about  a  mile.  It  would  not  have  been  visible  at 
all  but  for  the  perfect  smoothness  of  the  sea,  and  the  low  posi- 
tion occupied  by  the  observer.  At  times  it  did  disappear  alto 
gether,  when  it  would  rise  again,  as  if  undulating  in  the  ground- 
swell.  This  last  circumstance,  more  than  any  other,  persuaded 
Harry  that  it  was  not  a  rock,  but  some  floating  object  that  he 
beheld.  Thus  encouraged,  he  delayed  no  longer.  Every  mo- 
ment was  precious,  and  all  might  be  lost  by  indecision.  He  did 
not  like  the  appearance  of  deserting  his  companions,  but,  should 
he  fail,  the  motive  would  appear  in  the  act.  Should  he  fail, 
every  one  would  alike  soon  be  beyond  the  reach  of  censure,  and 
in  a  state  of  being  that  would  do  full  justice  to  all. 

Harry  threw  off  most  of  his  clothes,  reserving  only  his  shirt 
and  a  pair  of  light  summer  trowsers.  He  could  not  quit  the 
wreck,  however,  without  taking  a  sort  of  leave  of  Rose.  On 
no  account  would  he  awake  her,  for  he  appreciated  the  agony 
she  would  feel  during  the  period  of  his  struggles.  Kneeling  at 
her  side,  he  made  a  short  prayer,  then  pressed  his  lips  to  her 
warm  cheek,  and  left  her.  Rose  murmured  his  name  at  that 
instant,  but  it  was  as  the  innocent  and  young  betray  their  se- 
crets in  their  slumbers.     Neither  of  the  party  awoke. 

It  was  a  moment  to  prove  the  heart  of  man,  that  in  which 
Harry  Mulford,  in  the  darkness  of  midnight,  alone,  unsustained 


272 


JACK      TIER, 


by  any  encouraging  eye,  or  approving  voice,  with  no  other  aid 
than  his  own  stout  arm,  and  the  unknown  designs  of  a  myste- 
rious Providence,  committed  his  form  to  the  sea.  For  an  instant 
he  paused,  after  he  had  waded  down  on  the  wreck  to  a  spot 
where  the  water  already  mounted  to  his  breast,  but  it  was  not 
in  misgivings,  lie  calculated  the  chances,  and  made  an  intelli- 
gent use  of  such  assistance  as  could  be  had.  There  had  been 
no  sharks  near  the  wreck  that  day,  but  a  splash  in  the  water 
might  bring  them  back  again  in  a  crowd.  They  were  probably 
prowling  over  the  reef,  near  at  hand.  The  mate  used  great 
care,  therefore,  to  make  no  noise.  There  was  the  distant  object, 
and  he  set  it  by  a  bright  star,  that  wanted  about  an  hour  before 
it  would  sink  beneath  the  horizon.  That  star  was  his  beacon, 
and  muttering  a  few  words  in  earnest  prayer,  the  young  mac 
threw  his  body  forward,  and  left  the  wreck,  swimming  lightly, 
but  with  vigor. 


JACK     T  1  £  It  27H 


CHAPTER    IX. 


'The  night  1ms  been  unruly:  where  we  lay, 
Our  chimneys  were  blown  down :  and,  as  they  say, 
Lamentings  heard  i'  the  air;  strange  screams  of  death; 
And  prophesying,  with  accents  terrible, 
Of  dire  combustion,  and  confused  events, 
New  hatch'd  to  the  woeful  time." 

Macbeth. 


It  is  seldom  that  man  is  required  to  make  an  exertion  as  des- 
perate and  appalling,  in  all  its  circumstances,  as  that  on  -which 
Harry  Mulford  -was  now  bent.  The  night  was  starlight,  it  was 
true,  and  it  was  possible  to  see  objects  near  by  with  tolerable 
distinctness  ;  still,  it  was  midnight,  and  the  gloom  of  that  hour 
rested  on  the  face  of  the  sea,  lending  its  solemn  mystery  and 
obscurity  to  the  other  trying  features  of  the  undertaking.  Then 
there  was  the  uncertainty  whether  it  was  the  boat  at  all,  of 
which  he  was  in  pursuit ;  and,  if  the  boat,  it  might  drift  away 
from  him  as  fast  as  he  could  follow  it.  Nevertheless,  the  per- 
fect conviction  that,  without  some  early  succor,  the  party  on 
the  wreck,  including  Rose  Budd,  must  inevitably  perish,  stimu- 
lated him  to  proceed,  and  a  passing  feeling  of  doubt,  touching 
the  prudence  of  his  course,  that  came  over  the  young  mate, 
when  he  was  a  few  yards  from  the  wreck,  vanished  under  a 
vivid  renewal  of  this  last  conviction.  On  he  swam,  therefore, 
riveting  his  eye  on  the  "  thoughtful  star"  that  guided  his  course, 
and  keeping  his  mind  as  tranquil  as  possible,  in  order  that  the 
exertions  of  his  body  might  be  the  easier. 

Mulford  was  an  excellent  swimmer.  The  want  of  food  was 
a  serious  obstacle  to  his  making  one  of  his  best  efforts,  but,  as 
yet,  he  was  not  very  sensible  of  any  great  loss  of  strength, 


274  JACK     TIER. 

Understanding  fully  the  necessity  of  swimming  easily,  if  he 
would  swim  long,  he  did  not  throw  out  all  his  energy  at  first, 
hut  made  the  movements  of  his  limbs  as  regular,  continued, 
and  skilful  as  possible.  No  strength  was  thrown  away,  and 
his  progress  was  in  proportion  to  the  prudence  of  this  manner 
of  proceeding.  For  some  twenty  minutes  he  held  on  his 
course,  in  this  way,  when  he  began  to  experience  a  little  of 
that  weariness  which  is  apt  to  accompany  an  unremitted  use  of 
the  same  set  of  muscles,  in  a  monotonous  and  undeviating 
mode.  Accustomed  to  all  the  resources  of  his  art,  he  turned 
on  his  back,  for  the  double  purpose  of  relieving  his  arms  for  a 
minute,  and  of  getting  a  glimpse  of  the  wreck,  if  possible,  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  distance  he  had  overcome.  Swim  long 
in  this  new  manner,  however,  he  could  not  with  prudence,  as 
the  star  was  necessary  in  order  to  keep  the  direct  line  of  his 
course.  It  may  be  well  to  explain  to  some  of  our  readers, 
that,  though  the  surface  of  the  ocean  may  be  like  glass,  as 
sometimes  really  happens,  it  is  never  absolutely  free  from  the 
long,  undulating  motion  that  is  known  by  the  name  of  a 
"ground-swell."  This  swell,  on  the  present  occasion,  was  not 
very  heavy,  but  it  was  sufficient  to  place  our  young  mate,  at 
moments,  between  two  dark  mounds  of  water,  that  limited  his 
view  in  either  direction  to  some  eighty  or  a  hundred  yards ; 
then  it  raised  him  on  the  summit  of  a  rounded  wave,  that  en- 
abled him  to  see,  far  as  his  eye  could  reach,  under  that  obscure 
light.  Profiting  by  this  advantage,  Mulford  now  looked  be- 
hind him,  in  quest  of  the  wreck,  but  uselessly.  It  might  have 
been  in  the  trough,  while  he  was  thus  on  the  summit  of  the 
waves,  or  it  might  be  that  it  floated  so  low  as  to  be  totally  lost 
to  the  view  of  one  whose  head  was  scarcely  above  the  surface 
of  the  water.  For  a  single  instant,  the  young  man  felt  a  chill 
at  his  heart,  as  he  fancied  that  the  wreck  had  already  sunk ; 
but  it  passed  away  when  he  recalled  the  slow  progress  by 
which  the  air  escaped,  and  he  saw  the  certainty  that  the  catas- 
trophe, however  inevitable,  could  not  yet  have  really  arrived 


JACK     TIER.  275 

lie  waited  fur  another  swell  to  lift  him  on  its  summit,  when, -by 
"treading  water,"  he  raised  his  head  and  shoulders  fairly  above 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  strained  his  eyes  in  another  vain 
effort  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  wreck.  lie  could  not  see  it. 
In  point  of  fact,  the  mate  had  swum  much  farther  than  he 
had  supposed,  and  was  already  so  distant  as  to  render  any  such 
attempt  hopeless.  He  was  fully  a  third  of  a  mile  distant  from 
the  point  of  his  departure. 

Disappointed,  and  in  a  slight  degree  disheartened,  Mulford 
turned,  and  swam  in  the  direction  of  the  sinking  star.  He  now 
looked  anxiously  for  the  boat.  It  was  time  that  it  came  more 
plainly  into  view,  and  a  new  source  of  anxiety  beset  him,  as  he 
could  discover  no  signs  of  its  vicinity.  Certain  that  he  was  on 
the  course,  after  making  a  due  allowance  for  the  direction  of 
the  wind,  the  stout-hearted  young  man  swam  on.  He  next  de- 
termined not  to  anuoy  himself  by  fruitless  searches,  or  vain 
regrets,  but  to  swim  steadily  for  a  certain  time,  a  period  long 
enough  to  carry  him  a  material  distance,  ere  he  again  looked 
for  the  object  of  his  search. 

For  twenty  minutes  longer  did  that  courageous  and  active 
youth  struggle  with  the  waste  of  waters,  amid  the  obscurity 
and  solitude  of  midnight.  He  now  believed  himself  near  a 
mile  from  the  wreck,  and  the  star  which  had  so  long  served 
him  for  a  beacon  was  getting  near  to  the  horizon.  He  took  a 
new  observation  of  another  of  the  heavenly  bodies  nigh  it,  to 
serve  him  in  its  stead  when  it  should  disappear  altogether,  and 
then  he  raised  himself  in  the  water,  and  looked  about  again  for 
the  boat.  The  search  was  in  vain.  No  boat  was  very  near 
him,  of  a  certainty,  and  the  dreadful  apprehension  began  to 
possess  his  mind,  of  perishing  uselessly  in  that  waste  of  gloomy 
waters.  "While  thus  gazing  about  him,  turning  his  eyes  in 
every  quarter,  hoping  intently  to  catch  some  glimpse  of  the 
much-desired  object  in  the  gloom,  he  saw  two  dark,  pointed 
objects,  that  resembled  small  stakes,  in  the  water,  within  twenty 
feet  of  him.     Mulford  knew  them  at  a  glance,  and  a  cold 


27G  JACK     TlEJl. 

shudder  passed  through  his  frame,  as  he  recognized  them. 
They  were,  out  of  all  question,  the  fins  of  an  enormous  shark  ; 
nn  animal  that  could  not  measure  less  than  eighteen  or  twenty 
feet  in  length. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  when  our  young  mate 
discovered  the  proximity  of  this  dangerous  animal,  situated  as 
lie  was,  he  gave  himself  up  for  lost.  lie  possessed  his  knife, 
however,  and  had  heard  of  the  manner  in  which  even  sharks 
were  overcome,  and  that  too  in  their  own  element,  by  the 
skilful  and  resolute.  At  first,  he  was  resolved  to  make  one 
desperate  effort  for  life,  before  he  submitted  to  a  fate  as  horri- 
ble as  that  which  now  menaced  him ;  but  the  movements  of 
his  dangerous  neighbor  induced  him  to  wait.  It  did  not  ap- 
proach any  nearer,  but  continued  swimming  back  and  fro,  on 
the  surface  of  the  water,  according  to  the  known  habits  of  the 
fish,  as  if  watching  his  own  movements.  There  bein^  no  time 
to  be  wasted,  our  young  man  turned  on  his  face,  and  began 
again  to  swim  in  the  direction  of  the  setting  star,  though 
nearly  chilled  by  despair.  For  ten  minutes  longer  did  he 
straggle  on,  beginning  to  feel  exhaustion,  however,  and  always 
accompanied  by  those  two  dark,  sharp,  and  gliding  fins.  There 
was  no  difficulty  in  knowing  the  position  of  the  animal,  and 
Mulford's  eyes  were  oftener  on  those  fins  than  on  the  beacon 
before  him.  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  he  actually  became  ac- 
customed to  the  vicinity  of  this  formidable  creature,  and  soou 
felt  his  presence  a  sort  of  relief  against  the  dreadful  solitude 
of  his  situation.  lie  had  been  told  by  seamen  of  instances, 
and  had  once  witnessed  a  case  himself,  in  which  a  shark  had 
attended  a  swimming  man  for  a  long  distance,  either  forbear- 
ing to  do  him  harm,  from  repletion,  or  influenced  by  that  awe 
which  nature  has  instilled  into  all  of  the  inferior,  for  the  high- 
est animal  of  the  creation,  lie  began  to  think  that  he  was 
thus  favored,  and  really  regarded  the  shark  as  a  friendly  neigh- 
bor, rather  than  as  a  voracious  foe.  In  this  manner  did  the 
two  proceed  nearly  another  third  of  a  mile,  the  fins  sometimes 


JACK     TIER.  277 

iu  sight  ahead,  gliding  hither  and  thither,  and  sometimes  out 
oi'  view  behind  the  swimmer,  leaving  him  in  dreadful  doubts 
as  to  the  movements  of  the  fish,  when  Mulford  suddenly  felt 
something  hard  hit  his  foot.  Believing  it  to  be  the  shark, 
dipping  for  his  prey,  a  slight  exclamation  escaped  him.  At 
the  next  instant  both  feet  hit  the  unknown  substance  again, 
and  he  stood  erect,  the  water  no  higher  than  his  waist !  Quick, 
and  comprehending  every  thing  connected  with  the  sea,  the 
young  man  at  once  understood  that  he  was  on  a  part  of  the 
reef  where  the  water  was  so  shallow  as  to  admit  of  his  wading. 

Mulford  felt  that  he  had  been  providentially  rescued  from 
death.  His  strength  had  been  about  to  fail  him,  when  he  was 
thus  led,  unknown  to  himself,  to  a  spot  where  his  life  might 
yet  be  possibly  prolonged  for  a  few  more  hours,  or  days.  lie 
had  leisure  to  look  about  him,  and  to  reflect  on  what  wTas  next 
to  be  done.  Almost  unwittingly,  he  turned  in  quest  of  his 
terrible  companion,  in  whose  voracious  mouth  he  had  actually 
believed  himself  about  to  be  immolated,  a  few  seconds  before. 
There  the  two  horn-like  fins  still  were,  gliding  about  above  the 
water,  and  indicating  the  smallest  movement  of  their  formi- 
dable owner.  The  mate  observed  that  they  went  a  short  dis- 
tance ahead  of  him,  describing  nearly  a  semicircle,  and  then 
returned,  doing  the  same  thing  in  his  rear,  repeating  the 
movements  incessantly,  keeping  always  on  his  right.  This 
convinced  him  that  shoaler  water  existed  on  his  left  hand,  and 
he  waded  in  that  direction,  until  he  reached  a  small  spot  of 
naked  rock. 

For  a  time,  at  least,  he  was  safe  !  The  fragment  of  coral  on 
which  the  mate  now  stood  was  irregular  in  shape,  but  might 
have  contained  a  hundred  feet  square  in  superficial  measure- 
ment, and  wTas  so  little  raised  above  the  level  of  the  water  as 
not  to  be  visible  even  by  daylight,  at  the  distance  of  a  hun- 
dred yards.  Mulford  found  it  was  perfectly  dry,  however,  an 
important  discovery  to  him,  as  by  a  close  calculation  he  had 
Tiade  of  the  tides,  since  quitting  the  Dry  Tortugas,  he  knew 


278  JACK     TIER. 

it  must  be  near  high  water.  Could  lie  have  even  this  small 
portion  of  bare  rock  secure,  it  made  him,  for  the  moineut, 
rich  as  the  most  extensive  landholder  living.  A  considerable 
quantity  of  sea-weed  had  lodged  on  the  rock,  and,  as  most  of 
this  was  also  quite  dry,  it  convinced  the  young  sailor  that  the 
place  was  usually  bare.  But,  though  most  of  this  sea-weed 
was  dry,  there  were  portions  of  the  more  recent  accessions 
there  that  still  lay  in,  or  quite  near  to  the  water,  which  form- 
ed exceptions.  In  handling  these  weeds,  in  order  to  ascertain 
the  facts,  Mulford  caught  a  small  shell-fish,  and  finding  it  fresh 
and  easy  to  open,  he  swallowed  it  with  the  eagerness  of  a 
famishing  man.  Never  had  food  proved  half  so  grateful  to 
him  as  that  single  swallow  of  a  very  palatable  testaceous  ani- 
mal. By  feeling  further,  he  found  several  others  of  the  same 
family,  and  made  quite  as  large  a  meal  as,  under  the  circum- 
stances, was  probably  good  for  him.  Then,  grateful  for  his 
escape,  but  overcome  by  fatigue,  he  hastily  arranged  a  bed  of 
sea-weed,  drew  a  portion  of  the  plant  over  his  body,  to  keep 
him  warm,  and  fell  into  a  deep  sleep  that  lasted  for  hours. 

Mulford  did  not  regain  his  consciousness  until  the  rays  of 
the  rising  sun  fell  upon  his  eyelids,  and  the  genial  warmth  of 
the  great  luminary  shed  its  benign  influence  over  his  frame. 
At  first  his  mind  was  confused,  and  it  required  a  few  seconds 
to  bring  a  perfect  recollection  of  the  past,  and  a  true  under- 
standing of  his  real  situation.  They  came,  however,  and  the 
young  man  moved  to  the  highest  part  of  his  little  domain,  and 
cast  an  anxious,  hurried  look  around  in  quest  of  the  wreck.  A 
knowledge  of  the  course  in  which  he  had  swum,  aided  by  the 
position  of  the  sun,  told  him  on  what  part  of  the  naked  waste 
to  look  for  the  object  he  sought.  God  had  not  yet  forsaken 
them !  There  was  the  wreck ;  or,  it  might  be  more  exact  to 
say,  there  were  those  whom  the  remaining  buoyancy  of  the 
wreck  still  upheld  from  sinking  into  the  depths  of  the  Gulf.  In 
point  of  fact,  but  a  very  little  of  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  actu- 
ally remained  above  water,  some  two  or  three  yards  square  at 


JACK     TIER.  279 

most,  and  that  little  was  what  seamen  term  nearly  awash. 
Two  or  three  hours  must  hury  that  small  portion  of  the  still 
naked  wood  heneath  the  surface  of  the  sea,  though  sufficient 
buoyancy  might  possibly  remain  for  the  entire  day  still  to  keep 
the  living  from  death. 

There  the  wreck  was,  however,  yet  floating ;  and,  though  not 
visible  to  Mulford,  with  a  small  portion  of  it  above  water.  He 
saw  the  four  persons  only ;  and  what  was  more,  they  saw  him. 
This  was  evident  by  Jack  Tier's  waving  his  hat  like  a  man 
cheering.  When  Mulford  returned  this  signal,  the  shawl  of 
Rose  was  tossed  into  the  air,  in  a  way  to  leave  no  doubt  that 
he  was  seen  and  known.  The  explanation  of  this  early  recog- 
nition and  discovery  of  the  young  mate  was  very  simple. 
Tier  was  not  asleep  when  Harry  left  the  wreck,  though,  seeing 
the  importance  of  the  step  the  other  was  taking,  he  had  feigned 
to  be  so.  When  Rose  awoke,  missed  her  lover,  and  was  told 
what  had  happened,  her  heart  was  kept  from  sinking  by  his 
encouraging  tale  and  hopes.  An  hour  of  agony  had  succeed- 
ed, neverfhelcss,  when  light  returned  and  no  Mulford  was  to 
be  seen.  The  despair  that  burst  upon  the  heart  of  our  heroine 
was  followed  by  the  joy  of  discovering  him  on  the  rock. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  how,  much  the  parties  were 
relieved  on  ascertaining  their  respective  positions.  Faint  as 
were  the  hopes  of  each  of  eventual  delivery,  the  two  or  three 
minutes  that  succeeded  seemed  to  be  minutes  of  perfect  happi- 
ness. After  this  rush  of  unlooked-for  joy,  Mulford  continued 
his  intelligent  examination  of  surrounding  objects. 

The  wreck  was  fully  half  a  mile  from  the  rock  of  the  mate, 
but  much  nearer  to  the  reef  than  it  had  been  the  previous 
night.  "Could  it  but  ground«on  the  rocks,"  thought  the  young 
man,  "  it  would  be  a  most  blessed  event."  The  thing  was  pos- 
sible, though  the  first  half  hour  of  his  observations  told  him 
that  its  drift  was  in  the  direction  of  the  open  passage  so  often 
named,  rather  than  towards  the  nearest  rocks.  Still,  that  drift 
brought  Rose  each  minute  nearer  and  nearer  to  himself  acrain. 


280  JACK     TIER. 

Iii  looking  round,  however,  the  young  man  saw  the  boat.  It 
was  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  with  open  water  between  them, 
apparently  grounded  on  a  rock,  for  it  was  more  within  the  reef 
than  he  was  himself.  He  must  have  passed  it  in  the  dark,  and 
the  boat  had  been  left  to  obey  the  wind  and  currents,  and  to 
drift  to  the  spot  where  it  then  lay. 

Mulford  shouted  aloud  when  he  saw  the  boat,  and  at  once 
determined  to  swim  in  quest  of  it,  as  soon  as  he  had  collected 
a  little  refreshment  from  araonn;  the  sea-weed.  On  taking  a 
look  at  his  rock  by  daylight,  he  saw  that  its  size  was  quadrupled 
to  the  eye  by  the  falling  of  the  tide,  and  that  wTater  was  lying 
in  several  of  the  cavities  of  its  uneven  surface.  At  first  he 
supposed  this  to  be  sea-water,  left  by  the  flood;  but,  reflecting 
a  moment,  he  remembered  the  rain,  and  hoped  it  might  be 
possible  that  one  little  cavity,  containing  two  or  three  gallons 
of  the  fluid,  would  turn  out  to  be  fresh.  Kneeling  beside  it, 
he  applied  his  lips  in  feverish  haste,  and  drank  the  sweetest 
draught  that  had  ever  passed  his  lips.  Slaking  his  thirst,  which 
had  begun  again  to  be  painfully  severe,  he  arose  with  a  heart 
overflowing  with  gratitude — could  he  only  get  Rose  to  that 
narrow  and  barren  rock,  it  would  seem  to  be  an  earthly  para- 
dise. Mulford  next  ma4e  his  scanty,  but,  all  things  considered, 
sufficient  meal,  drank  moderately  afterwards,  and  then  turned 
his  attention  and  energies  towards  the  boat,  which,  though 
now  aground  and  fast,  might  soon  float  on  the  rising  tide,  and 
drift  once  more  beyond  his  reach.  It  was  his  first  intention  to 
swim  directly  for  his  object;  but,  just  when  about  to  enter  the 
water,  he  saw  with  horror  the  fins  of  at  least  a  dozen  sharks, 
which  were  prowling  about  in  the  deeper  water  of  the  reef, 
and  almost  encircling  his  hold.  Jo  throw  himself  in  the  midst 
of  such  enemies  wTould  be  madness,  and  he  stopped  to  reflect, 
and  again  to  look  about  him.  For  the  first  time  that  morning, 
he  took  a  survey  of  the  entire  horizon,  to  see  if  any  thing 
were  in  sight;  for,  hitherto,  his  thoughts  had  been  too  much 
occupied  with  Rose   and  her  companions  to  remember  any 


JACK     TIER.  2S1 

thing  else.  To  the  northward  and  westward  he  distinctly  saw 
the  upper  sails  of  a  large  ship,  that  was  standing  on  a  wind  to 
the  northward  and  eastward.  As  there  was  no  port  to  which 
a  vessel  of  that  character  would  be  likely  to  be  bound  in  the 
quarter  of  the  Gulf  to  which  such  a  course  would  lead,  Mulford 
at  once  inferred  it  was  the  sloop-of-war,  which,  after  having 
examined  the  islets,  at  the'  Dry  Tortugas,  and  finding  them 
deserted,  was  beating  up  either  to  go  into  Key  West,  or  to 
pass  to  the  southward  of  the  reef  again,  by  the  passage  through 
which  she  had  come  as  lately  as  the  previous  day.  This  was 
highly  encouraging ;  and  could  he  only  get  to  the  boat,  and 
remove  the  party  from  the  wreck  before  it  sunk,  there  wras 
now  every  prospect  of  a  final  escape. 

To  the  southward,  also,  the  mate  fancied  he  saw  a  sail.  It 
was  probably  a  much  smaller  vessel  than  the  ship  in  the  north- 
west, and  at  a  greater  distance.  It  might,  however,  be  the 
lofty  sails  of  some  large  craft,  standing  along  the  reef,  going 
westward,  bound  to  New  Orleans,  or  to  that  new  and  important 
port,  Point  Isabel ;  or  it  might  be  some  wrecker,  or  other  craft, 
edging  away  into  the  passage.  As  it  was,  it  appeared  only 
as  a  speck  in  the  horizon,  and  was  too  far  off  to  offer  much 
prospect  of  succor. 

Thus  acquainted  with  the  state  of  things  around  him,  Mul- 
ford gave  his  attention  seriously  to  his  duties.  He  was  chiefly 
afraid  that  the  returning  tide  might  lift  the  boat  from  the  rock 
on  which  it  had  grounded,  and  that  it  would  float  beyond  his 
reach.  Then  there  was  the  frightful  and  ever-increasing  peril 
of  the  wreck,  and  the  dreadful  fate  that  so  inevitably  menaced 
those  that  it  held,  were  not  relief  prompt.  This  thought 
goaded  him  nearly  to  desperation,  and  he  felt  at  moments 
almost  ready  to  plunge  into  the  midst  of  the  sharks,  and  fight 
his  way  to  his  object. 

But  reflection  showed  him  a  less  hazardous  way  of  making 
an  effort  to  reach  the  boat.  The  sharks'  fins  described  a  semi- 
circle only,  as  had  been  the  case  of  his  single  attendant  during 


282  JACK     TIER. 

the  night,  and  he  thought  that  the  shoalness  of  the  water 
prevented  their  going-  further  than  they  did  in  a  southeasterly 
direction,  which  was  that  of  the  boat.  He  well  knew  that  a 
shark  required  sufficient  water  to  sink  beneath  its  prey,  ere  it 
made  its  swoop,  and  that  it  uniformly  turned  on  its  back,  and 
struck  upward  whenever  it  gave  one  of  its  voracious  bites. 
This  was  owing  to  the  greater  length  of  its  upper  than  of  its 
lower  jaw,  and  Mulford  had  heard  it  was  a  physical  necessity 
of  its  formation.  Right  or  wrong,  he  determined  to  act  on 
this  theory,  and  began  at  once  to  wade  along  the  part  of  the 
reef  that  his  enemies  seemed  unwilling  to  approach. 

Had  our  young  mate  a  weapon  of  any  sort  larger  than  his 
knife,  he  would  have  felt  greater  confidence  in  his  success. 
As  it  was,  however,  he  drew  that  knife,  and  was  prepared  to 
sell  his  life  dearly  should  a  foe  assail  him.  No  sooner  was  his 
step  heard  in  the  water,  than  the  whole  group  of  sharks  were 
set  in  violent  motion,  glancing  past,  and  frequently  quite  near 
him,  as  if  aware  their  intended  prey  was  about  to  escape. 
Had  the  water  deepened  much,  Harry  would  have  returned  at 
once,  for  a  conflict  with  such  numbers  would  have  been  hope- 
less ;  but  it  did  not ;  on  the  contrary,  it  shoaled  again,  after  a 
very  short  distance,  at  which  it  had  been  waist-deep ;  and 
Mulford  found  himself  wading  over  a  long,  broad  surface  of 
rock,  and  that  directly  towards  the  boat,  through  water  that 
"seldom  rose  above  his  knees,  and  which  occasionally  scarce 
covered  his  feet.  There  was  no  absolutely  naked  rock  near 
him,  but  there  seemed  to  be  acres  of  that  which  might  be  al- 
most said  to  be  awash.  Amid  the  greedy  throng  that  en- 
deavored to  accompany  him,  the  mate  even  fancied  he  recog- 
nized the  enormous  fins  of  his  old  companion,  who  sailed  to 
and  fro  in  the  crowd  in  a  stately  manner,  as  if  merely  a  curious 
looker-on  of  his  own  movements.  It  was  the  smaller,  and 
probably  the  younger  sharks,  that  betrayed  the  greatest  hardi- 
hood and  voracity.  One  or  two  of  these  made  fierce  swoops 
towards  Harry,  as  if  bent  on  having  him  at  every  hazard ;  but 


J   A   C  K     TIE  R.  283 

tliov  invariably  glided  off  when  they  found  their  customary 
mode  of  attack  resisted  by  the  shoalness  of  the  water. 

Our  young  mate  got  ahead  but  slowhr,  being  obliged  to  pay 
a  cautious  attention  to  the  movements  of  his  escort.  Some- 
times he  was  compelled  to  wade  up  to  his  arms  in  order  to 
cross  narrow  places,  that  he  might  get  on  portions  of  the  rock 
that  were  nearly  bare ;  and  once  he  was  actually  compelled  to 
swim  eight  or  ten  yards.  Nevertheless,  he  did  get  on,  and 
after  an  hour  of  this  sort  of  work,  he  found  himself  within  a 
hundred  yards  of  the  boat,  which  lay  grounded  near  a  low 
piece  of  naked  rock,  but  separated  from  it  by  a  channel  of 
deep  water,  into  which  all  the  sharks  rushed  in  a  body,  as 
if  expressly  to  cut  off  his  escape.  Mulford  now  paused  to  take 
breath,  and  to  consider  what  ought  to  be  done.  On  the  spot 
where  he  stood  he  was  quite  safe  ;  though  ankle-deep  in  the 
sea,  the  shallow  water  extending  to  a  considerable  distance  on 
all  sides  of  him,  with  the  single  exception  of  the  channel  in 
his  front.  He  stood  on  the  very  verge  of  that  channel,  and 
could  see,  in  the  pellucid  element  before  him,  that  it  was  deep 
enough  to  float  a  vessel  of  some  size. 

To  venture  into  the  midst  of  twenty  sharks  required  despe- 
ration, and  Harry  was  not  yet  reduced  to  that.  He  had  been 
so  busy  in  making  his  way  to  the  point  where  he  stood,  as  to 
have  no  leisure  to  look  for  the  wreck ;  but  he  now  turned  his 
eyes  in  quest  of  that  all-interesting  object.  He  saw  the  shawl 
fluttering  in  the  breeze,  and  that  was  all  he  could  see.  Tier 
had  contrived  to  keep  it  ffying  as  a  signal  where  he  wras  to  be 
found,  but  the  hull  of  the  schooner  had  sunk  so  low  in  the 
water,  that  they  who  were  seated  on  its  keel  were  not  visible, 
even  at  the  short  distance  which  now  separated  them  from  Mul- 
ford. Encouraged  by  this  signal,  and  animated  by  the  revived 
hope  of  still  saving  his  companions,  Harry  turned  towards  the 
channel,  half  inclined  to  face  every  danger  rather  than  to  wTait 
any  longer.  At  that  moment  the  fins  were  all  gliding  along 
the  channel  from  him,  and  in  the  same  direction.    Some  object 


284  J   A   C  K      TIER. 

drew  the  sharks  away  in  a  body,  and  the  young  mate  let  him 
self  easily  into  the  water,  and  swam  as  noiselessly  as  he  could 
towards  the  boat. 

It  was  a  fearful  trial,  but  Mulford  felt  that  every  thing  de- 
pended on  his  success.  Stimulated  by  his  motive,  and  strength- 
ened by  the  food  and  water  taken  an  hour  before,  never  had 
he  shown  so  much  skill  and  power  in  the  water.  In  an  in- 
credibly sHort  period  he  was  half  way  across  the  channel,  still 
swimming  strong  and  unharmed.  A  few  strokes  more  sent 
him  so  near  the  boat  that  hope  took  full  possession  of  his  soul, 
and  he  shouted  in  exultation.  That  indiscreet  but  natural  cry, 
uttered  so  near  the  surface  of  the  sea,  turned  every  shark  upon 
him,  as  the  pack  springs  at  the  fox  in  view.  Mulford  was 
conscious  of  the  folly  of  his  cry  the  instant  it  escaped  him, 
and  involuntarily  he  turned  his  head  to  note  the  effect  on  his 
enemies.  Every  fin  was  gliding  towards  him — a  dark  array  of 
swift  and  furious  foes.  Ten  thousand  bayonets,  levelled  in 
their  line,  could  not  have  been  one  half  as  terrible,  and  the 
efforts  of  the  young  man  became  nearly  frantic.  But  strong 
as  he  was,  and  ready  in  the  element,  what  is  the  movement 
of  a  man  in  the  water  compared  to  that  of  a  vigorous  and 
voracious  fish  ?  Mulford  could  see  those  fins  coming  on  like  a 
tempest,  and  he  had  just  given  up  all  hope,  and  was  feeling  his 
flesh  creep  with  terror,  when  his  foot  hit  the  rock.  Giving 
himself  an  onward  plunge,  he  threw  his  body  upward  towards 
the  boat,  and  into  so  much  shoaler  water,  at  least  a  dozen  feet 
by  that  single  effort.  Recovering  his  legs  as  soon  as  possible, 
he  turned  to  look  behind  him.  The  water  seemed  alive  with 
fins,  each  pair  gliding  back  and  forth,  as  the  bull-dog  bounds 
in  front  of  the  ox's  muzzle.  Just  then  a  light-colored  object 
glanced  past  the  young  man,  so  near  as  almost  to  touch  hira. 
It  was  a  shark  that  had  actually  turned  on  its  back  to  seize  its 
prey,  and  was  only  prevented  from  succeeding  by  being  driven 
from  the  line  of  its  course  by  hitting  the  slimy  rock,  over 
which  it  was  compelled  to  make  its  plunge.     The  momentum 


JACK      TIER.  285 

with  which  it  came  on,  added  to  the  inclination  of  the  rock, 
forced  the  head  and  half  of  the  body  of  this  terrible  assailant 
into  the  air,  giving  the  intended  victim  an  opportunity  of  see- 
ing from  what  a  fate  he  had  escaped.  Mulford  avoided  the 
fish  without  much  trouble,  however,  and  the  next  instant  he 
threw  himself  into  the  boat,  on  the  bottom  of  which  he  lay 
panting  with  the  violence  of  his  exertions,  and  unable  to  move 
under  the  reaction  which  now  came  over  his  system. 

The  mate  lay  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  exhausted  and  una- 
ble to  rise,  for  several  minutes ;  during  that  space  he  devoutly 
returned  thanks  to  God  for  his  escape,  and  bethought  him  of 
the  course  he  was  next  to  pursue,  in  order  to  effect  the  rescue 
of  his  companions.  The  boat  was  larger  than  common.  It 
was  also  well  equipped — a  mast  and  sail  lying  along  with  the 
oars,  on  its  thwarts.  The  rock  placed  Harry  to  windward  of 
the  wreck,  and  by  the  time  he  felt  sufficiently  revived  to  rise 
and  look  about  him,  his  plan  of  proceeding  was  fully  arranged 
in  his  own  mind.  Among  other  things  that  he  saw,  as  he  still 
lay  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  was  a  breaker  which  he  knew 
contained  fresh  water,  and  a  bread-bag.  These  were  provi- 
sions that  it  was  customary  for  the  men  to  make,  when  em- 
ployed on  boat  duty ;  and  the  articles  had  been  left  where  he 
now  saw  them,  in  the  hurry  of  the  movements,  as  the  brig 
quitted  the  islets. 

Harry  rose  the  instant  he  felt  his  strength  returning.  Strik- 
ing the  breaker  with  his  foot,  and  feeling  the  basket  with  a 
hand,  he  ascertained  that  the  one  held  its  water,  and  the  other 
its  bread.  This  was  immense  relief,  for  by  this  time  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  party  on  the  wreck  must  be  returning  with 
redoubled  force.  The  mate  then  stepped  the  mast,  and  fitted 
the  sprit  to  the  sail,  knowing  that  the  latter  would  be  seen 
fluttering  in  the  wind  by  those  on  the  wreck,  and  carry  joy  to 
their  hearts.  After  this  considerate  act,  he  began  to  examine 
into  the  position  of  the  boat.  It  was  still  aground,  having 
been  left  by  the  tide ;  but  the  water  had  already  risen  several 


236  JACK     TIER. 

inches,  and  by  placing  himself  on  the  gunwale,  so  as  to  bring 
the  boat  on  its  bilge,  and  pushing  with  an  oar,  he  soon  got 
into  deep  water.  It  only  remained  to  haul  aft  the  sheet,  and 
right  the  helm,  to  be  standing  through  the  channel,  at  a  rate 
that  promised  a  speedy  deliverance  to  his  friends,  and  most 
of  all,  to  Rose. 

Mulford  glanced  past  the  rocks  and  shoals,  attended  by 
the  whole  company  of  the  sharks.  They  moved  before,  be- 
hind, and  on  each  side  of  him,  as  if  unwilling  to  abandon  their 
prey,  even  after  he  had  got  beyond  the  limits  of  their  power 
to  do  him  harm.  It  was  not  an  easy  thing  to  manage  the 
boat  in  that  narrow  and  crooked  channel,  with  no  other  guide 
for  the  courses  than  the  eye,  and  it  required  so  much  of  the 
mate's  vigilance  to  keep  clear  of  the.  sharp  angles  of  the  rocks, 
that  he  could  not  once  cast  his  eyes  aside,  to  look  for  the  flut- 
tering shawl,  which  now  composed  the  standing  signal  of  the 
wreck.  At  length  the  boat  shot  through  the  last  passage  of 
the  reef,  and  issued  into  open  water.  Mulford  knew  that  he 
must  come  out  half  a  mile  at  least  to  leeward  of  his  object, 
and  without  even  raising  his  head,  he  flattened  in  the  sheet, 
put  his  helm  down,  and  luffed  close  to  the  wind.  Then,  and 
then  only,  did  he  venture  to  look  around  him. 

Our  mate  felt  his  heart  leap  towards  his  mouth,  as  he  ob- 
served the  present  state  of  the  wreck.  It  was  dead  to  wind- 
ward of  him,  in  the  first  place,  and  it  seemed  to  be  entirely 
submerged.  .  He  saw  the  shawl  fluttering  as  before ;  for  Tier 
had  fastened  one  corner  to  a  button-hole  of  his  own  jacket, 
and  another  to  the  dress  of  Biddy,  leaving  the  part  which 
might  be  called  the  fly,  to  rise  at  moments  almost  perpendicu- 
larly in  the  air,  in  a  way  to  render  it  visible  at  some  distance. 
He  saw  also  the  heads  and  the  bodies  of  those  on  the  schooner's 
bottom,  but  to  him  they  appeared  to  be  standing  in,  or  on,  the 
water.  The  distance  may  have  contributed  a  little  to  this 
appearance,  but  no  doubt  remained  that  so  much  air  had  es- 
caped from  the  hold  of   the  vessel,  as  to  permit  it  t<    sink 


JACK     TIER.  287 

altogether  beneath  the  surface  of  the  sea.     It  was  time,  in- 
deed, to  proceed  to  the  relief  of  the  sufferers. 

Notwithstanding  the  boat  sailed  particularly  fast,  and  worked 
beautifully,  it  could  not  equal  the  impatience  of  Mulford  to 
get  on.  Passing  away  to  the  northeast  a  sufficient  distance, 
as  he  thought,  to  weather  on  the  wreck,  the  young  man  tacked 
at  last,  and  had  the  happiness  to  see  that  every  foot  he  pro- 
ceeded was  now  in  a  direct  line  towards  Rose.  It  was  only 
while  tacking  he  perceived  that  all  the  fins  had  disappeared. 
lie  felt  little  doubt  that  they  had  deserted  him,  in  order  to 
push  for  the  wreck,  which  offered  so  much  larger,  and  so 
much  more  attainable  prey.  This  increased  his  feverish  desire 
to  get  on,  the  boat  seeming  to  drag,  in  his  eyes,  at  the  very 
moment  it  was  leaving  a  wake  full  of  eddies  and  little  whirl- 
pools. The  wind  was  steady,  but  it  seemed  to  Mulford  that 
the  boat  was  set  to  leeward  of  her  course  by  a  current,  though 
this  could  hardly  have  been  the  case,  as  the  wreck,  the  sole 
mark  of  his  progress,  wTould  have  had  at  least  as  great  a  drift 
as  the  boat.  At  length  Mulford — to  him  it  appeared  to  be  an 
age ;  in  truth,  it  was  after  a  run  of  about  twenty  minutes — 
came  near  the  goal  he  so  earnestly  sought,  and  got  an  accu- 
rate view  of  the  state  of  the  wreck,  and  of  those  on  it.  The 
hull  of  the  schooner  had,  in  truth,  sunk  entirely  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  sea ;  and  the  party  it  sustained  stood  already 
knee-deep  in  the  water.  This  was  sufficiently  appalling;  but 
the  presence  of  the  sharks,  who  were  crowding  around  the 
spot,  rendered  the  whole  scene  frightful.  To  the  young  mate 
it  seemed  as  if  he  must  still  be  too  late  to  save  Rose  from  a 
fate  more  terrible  than  drowning,  for  the  boat  fell  so  far  to 
leeward  as  to  compel  him  to  tack  once  more.  As  he  swept 
past  the  wreck,  he  called  out  to  encourage  his  friends,  begging 
them  to  be  of  good  heart  for  five  minutes  longer,  when  he 
should  be  able  to  reach  them.  Rose  held  out  her  arms  entreat- 
ingly,  and  the  screams  of  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy,  which  were 
extorted  by  the  closer  and  closer  approach  of  the  sharks,  pro- 


288  JACK      T  I  E  K. 

claimed  the  imminency  of  the  danger  they  ran,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  not  losing  a  moment  of  time. 

Mulford  took  his  distance  with  a  seaman's  eye,  and  the  boat 
went  about  like  a  top.  The  latter  fell  of,  and  the  sail  filled  on 
the  other  tack.  Then  the  young  mariner  saw,  with  a  joy  no 
description  can  portray,  that  he  looked  to  windward  of  the 
fluttering  shawl,  towards  which  his  little  craft  was  already 
flying.  He  afterwards  believed  that  shawl  alone  prevented  the 
voracious  party  of  fish  from  assailing  those  on  the  wreck,  for, 
though  there  might  not  yet  be  sufficient  depth  of  water  to 
allow  of  their  customary  mode  of  attack,  creatures  of  their 
voracity  did  not  always  wait  for  such  conveniences.  But  the 
boat  was  soon  in  the  midst  of  the  fins,  scattering  them  in  al. 
directions ;  and  Mulford  let  go  the  sheet,  put  his  helm  down, 
and  sprang  forward  to  catch  the  extended  arms  of  Rose. 

It  might  have  been  accident,  or  it  might  have  been  the 
result  of  skill  and  interest  in  our  heroine,  but  certain  it  is,  tha 
the  bows  of  the  boat  came  on  the  wreck  precisely  at  the  plact 
where  Rose  stood,  and  her  hand  was  the  first  object  that  the 
young  man  touched. 

"  Take  my  aunt  first,"  cried  Rose,  resisting  Mulford' s  efforts 
to  lift  her  into  the  boat ;  "  she  is  dreadfully  alarmed,  and  can 
stand  with  difficulty." 

Although  two  of  Rose's  activity  and  lightness  might  have 
been  drawn  into  the  boat,  while  the  process  was  going  on  in 
behalf  of  the  widow,  Mulford  lost  no  time  in  discussion,  but 
did  as  he  was  desired.  First  directing  Tier  to  hold  on  to  the 
painter,  he  applied  his  strength  to  the  arms  of  Mrs.  Budd,  and, 
assisted  by  Rose  and  Biddy,  got  her  safely  into  the  boat,  over 
its  bows.  Rose  now  waited  not  for  assistance,  but  followed 
her  aunt  with  a  haste  that  proved  fear  lent  her  strength  in 
despite  her  long  fast.  Biddy  came  next,  though  clumsily,  and 
not  without  trouble,  and  Jack  Tier  followed  the  instant  he 
>vas  permitted  so  to  do.  Of  course,  the  boat,  no  longer  held 
by  its  painter,  drifted  away  from  the  spot,  and  the  hull  of  the 


JACK     TIER.  289 

schooner,  relieved  from  the  weight  of  four  human  beings,  rose 
so  near  the  surface  acrain  as  to  brino;  a  small  line  of  its  heel 
out  of  water.  No  better  evidence  could  have  been  given  of 
the  trifling  power  which  sustained  it,  and  of  the  timely  nature 
of  the  succor  brought  by  Mulford.  Had  the  boat  remained 
near  the  schooner,  it  would  have  been  found  half  an  hour 
later  that  the  hull  had  sunk  slowly  out  of  sight,  finding 
its  way,  doubtless,  inch  by  inch,  towards  the  bottom  of  the 
Gulf. 

By  this  time  the  sun  was  well  up,  and  the  warmth  of  the 
hour,  season,  and  latitude,  was  shed  on  the  sufferers.  There 
was  an  old  sail  in  the  boat,  and  in  this  the  party  dried  their 
limbs  and  feet,  which  were  getting  to  be  numb  by  their  long 
immersion.  Then  the  mate  produced  the  bag  and  opened  it, 
in  quest  of  bread.  A  small  portion  was  given  to  each,  and, 
on  looking  farther,  the  mate  discovered  that  a  piece  of  boiled 
ship's  beef  had  been  secreted  in  this  receptacle.  Of  this  also 
he  gave  each  a  moderate  slice,  taking  a  larger  portion  for  him- 
self, as  requiring  less  precaution.  The  suffering  of  the  party 
from  hunger  was  far  less  than  that  they  endured  from  thirst. 
Neither  had  been  endured  long  enough  seriously  to  enfeeble 
them  or  render  a  full  meal  very  dangerous,  but  the  thirst  had 
been  much  the  hardest  to  be  borne.  Of  this  fact  Biddy  soon 
gave  audible  evidence. 

"  The  mate  is  good,"  she  said,  "  and  the  bread  tastes  swate 
and  refreshing,  but  wather  is  a  blessed  thing.  Can  you  no 
give  us  one  dhrap  of  the  water  that  falls  from  heaven,  Mr. 
Mulford ;  for  this  wather  of  the  saa  is  of  no  use  but  to  drown 
Christians  in  ?" 

In  an  instant  the  mate  had  opened  a  breaker,  and  filled  the 
tin  pot  which  is  almost  always  to  be  found  in  a  boat.  Biddy 
said  no  more,  but  her  eyes  pleaded  so  eloquently,  that  Rose 
begged  the  faithful  creature  might  have  the  first  drink.  One 
<?ager  swallow  went  down,  and  then  a  cry  of  disappointment 
succeeded.     The  water  was  salt,  and  had  been   put  in  the 

13 


290  JACK     TIER. 

breaker  for  ballast.  The  other  breaker  was  tried  with  the 
same  success. 

"  It  is  terrible  to  be  without  one  drop  of  water,"  murmured 
Pose,  "  and  this  food  makes  it  more  necessaiy  than  ever." 

"  Patience,  patience,  dearest  Rose — patience  for  ten  minutes, 
and  you  shall  all  drink,"  answered  the  mate,  filling  the  sail 
and  keeping  the  boat  away  while  speaking.  "There's  water, 
God  be  praised,  on  the  rock  to  which  I  first  swam,  and  we  will 
secure  it  before  another  day's  sun  help  to  make  it  evaporate." 

This  announcement  quieted  the  longings  of  those  who  en- 
dured a  thirst  which  disappointment  rendered  doubly  hard  to 
bear ;  and  away  the  boat  glided  towards  the  rock.  As  he  now 
flew  over  the  distance,  lessened  more  than  ODe-half  by  the  drift 
of  the  wreck,  Mulford  recalled  the  scene  through  which  he  had 
so  painfully  passed  the  previous  night.  As  often  happens,  he 
shuddered  at  the  recollection  of  things  which,  at  the  moment, 
a  desperate  resolution  had  enabled  him  to  encounter  with  firm- 
ness. Still,  he  thought  nothing  less  than  the  ardent  desire  to 
save  Rose  could  have  carried  him  through  the  trial  with  the 
success  which  attended  his  struggles.  The  dear  being  at  his  side 
asked  a  few  explanations  of  what  had  passed ;  and  she  bowed 
her  head  and  wept,  equally  with  pain  and  delight,  as  imagina- 
tion pictured  to  her  the  situation  of  her  betrothed,  amid  that 
waste  of  water,  with  his  fearful  companions,  and  all  in  the  hours 
of  deep  night. 

But  that  was  over  now.  There  was  the  rock — the  blessed 
rock  on  which  Mulford  had  so  accidentally  struck,  close  before 
them — and  presently  they  were  all  on  it.  The  mate  took  the 
pot  and  ran  to  the  little  reservoir,  returning  with  a  sweet  draught 
for  each  of  the  party. 

"A  blessed,  blessed  thing,  is  wather !"  exclaimed  Biddy,  this 
time  finding  the  relief  she  sought,  "and  a  thousand  blessings 
on  you,  Mr.  Mulford,  who  have  niver  done  us  any  thing  but 
good." 

Rose  looked  a  still  higher  eulogy  on  the  young  man,  and 


JACK     TIER.  291 

even  Mrs.  Budd  had  something  commendatory  and  grateful  to 
say.  Jack  Tier  was  silent,  but  he  had  all  his  eyes  about  him, 
as  he  now  proved. 

"  We've  all  on  us  been  so  much  taken  up  with  our  own 
affairs,"  remarked  the  steward's  assistant,  "  that  we've  taken 
but  little  notice  of  the  neighborhood.  If  that  isn't  the  brig, 
Mr.  Mulford,  running  through  this  very  passage,  with  stun'sails 
set  alow  and  aloft,  I  don't  know  the  Molly  Swash  when  I  see 
her!" 

"  The  brig !"  exclaimed  the  mate,  recollecting  the  vessels  he 
had  seen  at  the  break  of  day,  for  the  first  time  in  hours.  "  Can 
it  be  possible  that  the  craft  I  made  out  to  the  southward  is  the 
brig?" 

"  Look,  and  judge  for  yourself,  sir.  There  she  comes,  like 
a  race-horse,  and  if  she  holds  her  present  course,  she  must 
pass  somewhere  within  a  mile  or  so  of  us,  if  we  stay  where  we 
are." 

Mulford  did  look,  as  did  all  with  him.  There  was  the  Swash, 
sure  enough,  coming  down  before  the  wind,  and  under  a  cloud 
of  canvas.  She  might  be  still  a  league,  or  a  league  and  a  half 
distant,  but,  at  the  rate  at  which  she  was  travelling,  that  dis- 
tance would  soon  be  past.  She  was  running  through  the  pas- 
sage, no  doubt  with  a  view  to  proceed  to  the  Dry  Tortugas,  to 
look  after  the  schooner,  Spike  having  the  hope  that  he  had 
dodged  his  pursuers  on  the  coast  of  Cuba.  The  mate  now 
looked  for  the  ship,  in  the  northwestern  board,  believing,  as  he 
did,  that  she  was  the  sloop-of-war.  That  vessel  had  gone 
about,  and  was  standing  to  the  southward,  on  a  taut  bowline. 
She  was  still  a  long  way  off,  three  or  four  leagues  at  least,  but 
the  change  she  had  made  in  her  position,  since  last  seen,  proved 
that  she  wras  a  great  sailer.  Then  she  was  more  than  hull 
down,  whereas,  now,  she  was  near  enough  to  let  the  outline  of 
a  long,  straight  fabric  be  discovered  beneath  her  canvas. 

"  It  is  hardly  possible  that  Spike  should  not  see  the  vessel 
here  in  the  northern  board,"  Mulford  observed  to  Tier,  who  had 


292  JACK     TIER. 

been  examining  the  ship  with.  him.  "  The  lookout  is  usually 
good  on  board  the  Swash,  and,  just  now,  should  certainly  be  as 
good  as  common.  Spike  is  no  dawdler  with  serious  business 
before  him." 

"  lie's  a  willain  !"  muttered  Jack  Tier. 

The  mate  regarded  his  companion  with  some  surprise.  Jack 
was  a  very  insignificant-looking  personage  in  common,  and  one 
would  scarcely  pause  to  give  him  a  second  look,  unless  it  might 
be  to  laugh  at  his  rotundity  and  little  waddling  legs.  I>ut, 
now,  the  mate  fancied  he  was  swelling  with  feelings  that  actu- 
ally imparted  somewhat  more  than  usual  stature  and  dignity  to 
his  appearance.  His  face  was  full  of  indignation,  and  there 
Avas  something  about  the  eye,  that  to  Mulford  was  inexplicable. 
As  Rose,  however,  had  related  to  him  the  scene  that  took  place 
on  the  islet,  at  the  moment  when  Spike  was  departing,  the 
mate  supposed  that  Jack  still  felt  a  portion  of  the  resentment 
that  such  a  collision  would  be  apt  to  create.  From  the  expres- 
sion of  Jack's  countenance  at  that  instant,  it  struck  him  Spike 
might  not  be  exactly  safe,  should  accident  put  it  in  the  power 
of  the  former  to  do  him  an  injury. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  decide  on  the  course  that  ought  to 
be  pursued.  The  bag  contained  sufficient  food  to  last  the  party 
several  days,  and  a  gallon  of  water  still  remained  in  the  cavity 
of  the  rock.  This  last  was  collected  and  put  in  one  of  the 
breakers,  which  was  emptied  of  the  salt  water  in  order  to  re- 
ceive it.  As  water,  however,  was  the  great  necessity  in  that 
latitude,  Mulford  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  set  sail  with  so 
small  a  supply,  and  he  accordingly  commenced  a  search,  on 
some  of  the  adjacent  rocks,  Jack  Tier  accompanying  him. 
They  succeeded  in  doubling  their  stock  of  water,  and  collected 
several  shell-fish,  that  the  females  found  exceedingly  grateful 
and  refreshing.  On  the  score  of  hunger  and  thirst,  indeed,  no 
one  was  now  suffering.  By  judiciously  sipping  a  little  water 
at  a  time,  and  retaining  it  in  the  mouth  before  swallowing,  the 
latter  painful  feeling  had  been  gotten  rid  of;  and  as  for  'bod. 


JACK     TIER.  293 

.here  was  even  more  than  was  actually  needed,  and  that  of  a 
very  good  quality.  It  is  probable  that  standing  in  the  water 
for  hours,  as  Rose,  and  her  aunt,  and  Biddy  had  been  obliged 
to  do,  had  contributed  to  lessen  the  pain  endured  from  thirst, 
though  they  had  all  suffered  a  good  deal  from  that  cause,  espe- 
cially while  the  sun  shone. 

Mulford  and  Tier  were  half  an  hour  in  obtaining  the  water. 
By  the  end  of  that  period  the  brigantine  was  so  near  as  to 
render  her  hull  distinctly  visible.  It  was  high  time  to  decide 
on  their  future  course.  The  sail  had  been  brailed  when  the 
boat  reached  the  rock,  and  the  boat  itself  lay  on  the  side  of 
the  latter  opposite  to  the  brig,  and  where  no  part  of  it  could 
be  seen  to  those  on  board  the  Swash,  with  the  exception  of  the 
mast.  Under  the  circumstances,  therefore,  Mulford  thought  it 
wisest  to  remain  where  they  were,  and  let  the  vessel  pass,  be- 
fore they  attempted  to  proceed  towards  Key  West,  their  in- 
tended place  of  refuge.  In  order  to  do  this,  however,  it  was 
necessary  to  cause  the  whole  party  to  lie  down,  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  hid  by  the  inequalities  in  the  rock,  as  it  was  now  very 
evident  the  brig  would  pass  within  half  a  mile  of  them.  Blither- 
to,  it  was  not  probable  that  they  had  been  seen,  and  by  using 
due  caution,  the  chances  of  Spike's  overlooking  them  alto- 
gether amounted  nearly  to  certainty. 

The  necessary  arrangements  were  soon  made,  the  boat's 
mast  unstopped,  the  party  placed  behind  their  covers,  and  the 
females  comfortably  bestowed  in  the  spare  sail,  where  they 
might  get  a  little  undisturbed  sleep  after  the  dreadful  night,  or 
morning,  they  had  passed.  Even  Jack  Tier  lay  down  to  catch 
his  nap,  as  the  most  useful  manner  of  bestowing  himself  for  a 
couple  of  hours ;  the  time  Mulford  had  mentioned  as  the  period 
of  their  stay  where  they  were. 

As  for  the  mate,  vigilance  was  his  portion,  and  he  took  hia 
position,  hid  like  all  the  rest,  where  he  could  watch  the  move- 
ments of  his  old  craft.  In  about  twenty  minutes,  the  brig  was 
quite  near ;  so  near  that  Mulford  not  only  saw  the  people  or 


29-1  JACK     TIER. 

board  her,  who  showed  themselves  in  the  rigging,  hut  fancied 
he  could  recognize  their  persons.  As  yet,  nothing  had  occurred 
in  the  way  of  change,  but  just  as  the  Swash  got  abreast  of  the 
rock,  she  began  to  take  in  her  studding-sails,  and  that  hurried- 
ly, as  is  apt  to  occur  on  board  a  vessel  in  sudden  emergencies. 
Our  young  man  was  a  little  alarmed  at  first,  believing  that 
they  might  have  been  discovered,  but  he  was  soon  induced  to 
think  that  the  crew  of  the  brigantine  had  just  then  begun  to 
suspect  the  character  of  the  ship  to  the  northward.  That  ves- 
sel had  been  drawing  near  all  this  time,  and  was  now  only 
some  three  leagues  distant.  Owing  to  the  manner  in  which 
she  headed,  or  bows  on,  it  was  not  a  very  easy  matter  to  tell 
the  character  of  this  stranger,  though  the  symmetry  and  square- 
ness of  his  yards  rendered  it  nearly  certain  he  was  a  cruiser. 
Though  Spike  could  not  expect  to  meet  his  old  acquaintance 
here,  after  the  chase  he  had  so  lately  led  her,  down  on  the  op- 
posite coast,  he  might  and  would  have  his  misgivings,  and 
Mulford  thought  it  was  his  intention  to  haul  up  close  round 
the  northern  angle  of  the  reef,  and  maintain  bis  advantage  of 
the  wind,  over  the  stranger.  If  this  were  actually  done,  it 
might  expose  the  boat  to  view,  for  the  brig  would  pass  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  it,  and  on  the  side  of  the  rock  on  which 
it  lay.  It  was  too  late,  however,  to  attempt  a  change,  since 
the  appearance  of  human  beings  in  such  a  place  would  be  cer- 
tain to  draw  the  brig's  glasses  on  them,  and  the  glasses  must 
at  once  let  Spike  know  who  they  were.  It  remained,  there- 
fore, only  to  await  the  result  as  patiently  as  possible. 

A  very  few  minutes  removed  all  doubt.  The  brig  hauled  as 
close  round  the  reef  as  she  dared  to  venture,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  the  boat  lay  exposed  to  view  to  all  on  board  her. 
The  vessel  was  now  so  near  that  Mulford  plainly  saw  the 
boatswain  get  upon  the  coach-house,  or  little  hurricane-house 
deck,  where  Spike  stood  examining  the  ship  with  his  glass, 
and  point  out  the  boat,  Avhere  it  lay  at  the  side  of  the  rock, 
In  an  instant,  the  glass  was  levelled  at  the  spot,  and  the  move- 


JACK     TIER.  29f; 

nieuts  on  board  the  brig  immediately  betrayed  to  Mulford  that 
the  boat  was  recognized.  Sail  was  shortened  on  board  the 
Swash,  and  men  were  seen  preparing  to  lower  her  stern  boat, 
while  every  thing  indicated  that  the  vessel  was  about  to  be 
hove-to.  There  was  no  time  now  to  be  lost,  but  the  young 
man  immediately  gave  the  alarm. 

No  sooner  did  the  party  arise  and  show  themselves,  than 
the  crew  of  the  Swash  gave  three  cheers.  By  the  aid  of  the 
glass,  Spike  doubtless  recognized  their  persons,  and  the  fact 
was  announced  to  the  men,  by  way  of  stimulating  their  exer- 
tions. This  gave  an  additional  spur  to  the  movements  of  those 
on  the  rock,  who  hastened  into  their  own  boat,  and  made  sail 
as  soon  as  possible. 

It  was  far  easier  to  do  all  that  has  been  described,  than  to 
determine  on  the  future  course.  Capture  was  certain  if  the 
fugitives  ventured  into  the  open  water,  and  their  only  hope 
was  to  remain  on  the  reef.  If  channels  for  the  passage  of  the 
boat  could  be  found,  escape  was  highly  probable,  as  the 
schooner's  boat  could  sail  much  faster  than  the  brig's  boat 
could  row,  fast  as  Mulford  knew  the  last  to  be.  But  the  ex- 
perience of  the  morning  had  told  the  mate  that  the  rock  rose 
too  near  the  surface,  in  many  places,  for  the  boat,  small  as  it 
was,  to  pass  over  it ;  and  he  must  trust  a  great  deal  to  chance. 
Away  he  went,  however,  standing  along  a  narrow  channel, 
through  which  the  wind  just  permitted  him  to  lay,  with  the 
sail  occasionally  shaking. 

By  this  time  the  Swash  had  her  boat  in  the  water,  manned 
with  four  powerful  oars,  Spike  steering  it  in  his  own  person. 
Our  young  mate  placed  Tier  in  the  bows,  to  point  out  the 
deepest  water,  and  kept  his  sail  a  rap  full,  in  order  to  get  ahead 
as  fast  as  possible.  Ahead  he  did  get,  but  it  was  on  a  course 
that  soon  brought  him  out  in  the  open  water  of  the  main 
passage  through  the  reef,  leaving  Spike  materially  astern.  The 
latter  now  rose  in  his  boat,  and  made  a  signal  with  his  hat 
which  the  boatswain  perfectly  understood.     The  latter  caused 


296  JACK     TIER. 

the  brig  to  wear  short  round  on  her  heel,  and  boarded  hit 
fore-tack  in  chase,  hauling  up  into  the  passage  as  soon  as  he 
could  again  round  the  reef.  Mulford  soon  saw  that  it  would 
never  do  for  him  to  venture  far  from  the  rocks,  the  brig  going 
two  feet  to  his  one,  though  not  looking  quite  so  high  as  he  did 
in  the  boat.  But  the  Swash  had  her  guns,  and  it  was  probable 
they  would  be  used  rather  than  he  should  escape.  When  dis- 
tant two  hundred  yards  from  the  reef,  therefore,  he  tacked. 
The  new  course  brought  the  fugitives  nearly  at  right  angles  to 
that  steered  by  Spike,  who  stood  directly  on,  as  if  conscious 
that,  sooner  or  later,  such  a  rencounter  must  occur.  It  would 
seem  that  the  tide  was  setting  through  the  passage  ;  for  when 
the  boat  of  Mulford  again  reached  the  reef,  it  was  considerably 
to  windward  of  the  channel  out  of  which  she  had  issued,  and 
opposite  to  another  which  offered  very  opportunely  for  her 
entrance.  Into  this  new  channel,  then,  the  mate  somewhat 
blindly  ran,  feeling  the  necessity  of  getting  out  of  gun-shot  of 
the  brig  at  every  hazard.  She  at  least  could  not  follow  him 
among  the  rocks,  let  Spike,  in  his  boat,  proceed  as  he  might. 

According  to  appearances,  Spike  was  not  likely  to  be  very 
successful.  He  was  obliged  to  diverge  from  his  course,  in  order 
to  go  into  the  main  passage  at  the  very  point  where  Mulford 
had  just  before  done  the  same  thing,  and  pull  along  the  reef 
to  windward,  in  order  to  get  into  the  new  channel,  into  which 
the  boat  he  was  pursuing  had  just  entered.  This  brought  him 
not  only  astern  again,  but  a  long  bit  astern,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  compelled  to  make  the  circuit  described.  On  he  wTent,  how- 
ever, as  eager  in  the  chase  as  the  hound  with  his  game  in  view. 

Mulford's  boat  seemed  to  fly,  and  glided  ahead  at  least  three 
feet  to  that  of  Spike's  two.  The  direction  of  the  channel  it 
was  in,  brought  it  pretty  close  to  the  wind,  but  the  water  was 
quite  smooth,  and  our  mate  managed  to  keep  the  sail  full,  and 
his  little  craft  at  the  same  time  quite  near  the  weatherly  side 
of  the  rocks.  In  the  course  of  ten  minutes  the  fugitives  were 
fully  a  mile  from  the  brig,  wdiich  was  unable  to  follow  them, 


JACK     TIER.  297 

but  kept  standing  off  and  on,  in  the  main  passage,  waiting  the 
result.  At  one  time  Mulford  thought  the  channel  would  bring 
him  out  into  open  water  again,  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
reef,  and  more  than  a  mile  to  the  eastward  of  the  point  where 
the  ship-channel  in  which  the  Swash  was  plying  commenced ; 
but  an  accidental  circumstance  prevented  his  standing  in  far 
enough  to  ascertain  the  fact.    That  circumstance  was  as  follows  : 

In  running  a  mile  and  a  half  over  the  reef,  in  the  manner 
described,  Mulford  had  left  the  boat  of  Spike  quite  half  a  mile 
astern.  He  was  now  out  of  gun-shot  from  the  brig,  or  at  least 
beyond  the  range  of  her  grape,  the  only  missile  he  feared,  and 
so  far  to  windward  that  he  kept  his  eye  on  every  opening  to 
the  southward,  which  he  fancied  might  allow  of  his  making  a 
stretch  deeper  into  the  mazes  of  the  reef,  among  which  he 
believed  it  easiest  for  him  to  escape,  and  to  weary  the  oarsmen 
of  his  pursuers.  Two  or  three  of  these  openings  offered  as 
he  glided  along,  but  it  struck  him  that  they  all  looked  so  high 
that  the  boat  would  not  lay  through  them — an  opinion  in 
which  he  was  riffht.  At  length  he  came  abreast  of  one  that 
seemed  straight  and  clear  of  obstacles  as  far  as  he  could  see, 
and  throuovh  which  he  mia;ht  run  with  a  flowing  sheet.  Down 
went  his  helm,  and  about  went  his  boat,  running  away  to  the 
southward  as  fast  as  ever. 

Had  Spike  followed,  doubled  the  same  shoal,  and  kept  away 
again  in  the  same  channel  as  had  been  done  by  the  boat  he 
chased,  all  his  hopes  of  success  must  have  vanished  at  once. 
This  he  did  not  attempt,  therefore ;  but,  sheering  into  one  of 
the  openings  which  the  mate  had  rejected,  he  cut  off  quite 
half  a  mile  in  his  distance.  This  was  easy  enough  for  him  to 
accomplish,  as  a  row-boat  would  pull  even  easier,  near  to  the 
wind,  than  with  the  wind  broad  on  its  bow.  In  consequence 
of  this  short  cut,  therefore,  Spike  was  actually  crossing  out 
into  Mulford's  new  channel,  just  as  the  latter  had  handsomely 
cleared  the  mouth  of  the  opening  through  which  he  effected 
his  purpose. 


298  JACK     TIER. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the  two  boats  nmst  have 
been  for  a  few  minutes  quite  near  to  each  other ;  so  near,  in 
deed,  did  the  fugitives  now  pass  to  their  pursuers,  that  it  would 
have  been  easy  for  them  to  have  conversed,  had  they  been  so 
disposed.  Not  a  word  was  spoken,  however,  but  Mulford  went 
by,  leaving  Spike  about  a  hundred  yards  astern.  This  was  a 
trying  moment  to  the  latter,  and  the  devil  tempted  him  to 
seek  his  revenge.  lie  had  not  come  unarmed  on  his  enter- 
prise, but  three  or  four  loaded  muskets  lay  in  the  stern-sheets 
of  his  yawl.  He  looked  at  his  men,  and  saw  that  they  could 
not  hold  out  much  longer  to  pull  as  they  had  been  pulling. 
Then  he  looked  at  Mulford's  boat,  and  saw  it  gliding  away 
from  him  at  a  rate  that  would  shortly  place  it  another  half 
mile  in  advance.  He  seized  a  musket,  and  raised  it  to  his 
shoulder,  nay,  was  in  the  act  of  taking  aim  at  his  mate,  when 
Rose,  who  watched  his  movements,  threw  herself  before  Harry, 
and  if  she  did  not  actually  save  his  life,  at  least  prevented 
Spike's  attempt  on  it  for  that  occasion.  In  the  course  of  the 
next  ten  minutes  the  fugitives  had  again  so  far  gained  on  their 
pursuers,  that  the  latter  began  to  see  that  their  efforts  were 
useless.  Spike  muttered  a  few  bitter  curses,  and  told  his  men 
to  lay  on  their  oars. 

"  It's  well  for  the  runaway,"  he  added,  "  that  the  gal  put 
herself  between  us,  else  would  his  grog  have  been  stopped  for- 
ever. I've  long  suspected  this ;  but  had  I  been  sure  of  it,  the 
Gulf  Stream  would  have  had  the  keeping  of  his  body,  the  first 
dark  night  we  were  in  it  together.  Lay  on  your  oars,  men, 
lay  on  your  oars ;  I'm  afeared  the  villain  will  get  through  our 
fingers,  a'ter  all." 

The  men  obeyed,  and  then,  for  the  first  time,  did  they  turn 
their  heads,  to  look  at  those  they  had  been  so  vehemently  pur- 
suing. The  other  boat  was  quite  half  a  mile  from  them,  and 
it  had  again  tacked.  This  last  occurrence  induced  Spike  to  pull 
slowly  ahead,  in  quest  of  another  short  passage  to  cut  the  fugi- 
tives off;  but  no  such  opening  offered 


JACK     TIER.  299 

"  There  lie  goes  about  again,  by  George  !"  exclaimed  Spike* 
i(  Give  way,  lads — give  way  ;  an  easy  stroke,  for  if  he  is  em- 
bayed, he  can't  escape  us  !" 

Sure  enough,  poor  Mulford  was  embayed,  and  could  see  no 
outlet  by  which  to  pass  ahead,  lie  tacked  his  boat  two  or 
three  times,  and  he  wore  round  as  often ;  but  on  every  side, 
shoals,  or  rocks  that  actually  rose  above  the  surface  of  the  water, 
impeded  his  course.  The  fact  was  not  to  be  concealed  ;  after 
all  his  efforts,  and  so  many  promises  of  success,  not  only  was 
his  further  progress  ahead  cut  off,  but  equally  so  was  retreat. 
The  passage  was  not  wide  enough  to  admit  the  hope  of  getting 
by  his  pursuers,  and  the  young  man  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  his  better  course  was  to  submit  with  dignity  to  his  fate. 
For  himself  he  had  no  hope — he  knew  Spike's  character  too 
well  for  that ;  but  he  did  not  apprehend  any  great  immediate 
danger  to  his  companions.  Spike  had  a  coarse,  brutal  admira- 
tion for  Rose  !  but  her  expected  fortune,  which  was  believed  to 
be  of  more  amount  than  was  actually  the  case,  was  a  sort  of 
pledge  that  he  would  not  willingly  put  himself  in  a  situation 
that  would  prevent  the  possibility  of  enjoying  it.  Strange, 
hurried,  and  somewhat  confused  thoughts  passed  through  Harry 
Mulford's  mind,  as  he  brailed  his  sail,  and  waited  for  his 
captors  to  approach  and  take  possession  of  his  boat  and  him- 
self. This  was  done  quietly,  and  with  very  few  words  on  the 
part  of  Spike. 

Mulford  would  have  liked  the  appearance  of  things  better 
had  his  old  commander  cursed  him,  and  betrayed  other  signs 
of  the  fury  that  was  boiling  in  his  very  soul.  On  the  contrary, 
never  had  Stephen  Spike  seemed  more  calm,  or  under  better 
self-command.  He  smiled,  and  saluted  Mrs.  Budd,  just  as  if 
nothing  unpleasant  had  occurred,  and  alluded  to  the  sharpness 
of  the  chase  Avith  facetiousness  and  seeming  good-humor.  The 
females  were  deceived  by  this  manner,  and  hoped,  after  all,  that 
the  worst  that  would  happen  woidd  be  a  return  to  their  old 
position  on  board  the  Swash.     This  was  being  so  much  better 


300  JACK      TIER. 

off  than  their  horrible  situation  on  the  wreck,  that  the  change 
was  not  frightful  to  them. 

"  What  has  become  of  the  schooner,  Mr.  Mulford  ?"  asked 
Spike,  as  the  boats  began  to  pass  down  the  channel  to  return 
'o  the  brig — two  of  the  Swash's  men  taking  their  seats  in  that 
which  had  been  captured,  along  with  their  commander,  while 
the  other  two  got  a  tow  from  the  use  of  the  sail.  "I  see  you 
have  the  boat  here  that  we  used  alongside  of  her,  and  sup- 
pose you  know  something  of  the  craft  itself." 

"  She  capsized  with  us  in  a  squall,"  answered  the  mate,  "  and 
we  only  left  the  wreck  this  morning." 

"Capsized! — hum — that  was  a  hard  fate,  to  be  sure,  and 
denotes  bad  seamanship.  Now  I've  sailed  all  sorts  of  craft 
these  forty  years,  or  five-and-thirty  at  least,  and  never  capsized 
any  thing  in  my  life.  Stand  by  there  for'ard,  to  hold  on  by 
that  rock." 

A  solitary  cap  of  the  coral  rose  above  the  water  two  or  three 
feet,  close  to  the  channel,  and  was  the  rock  to  which  Spike 
alluded.  It  was  only  some  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  and  of  an 
oval  form,  rising  quite  above  the  ordinary  tides,  as  was  appa- 
rent by  its  appearance.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  it  had 
no  other  fresh  water  than  that  which  occasionally  fell  on  its 
surface,  which  surface  being  quite  smooth,  retained  very  little 
of  the  rain  it  received.  The  boat  was  soon  alongside  of  this 
rock,  where  it  was  held  broadside-to  by  the  two  seamen. 

"  Mr.  Mulford,  do  me  the  favor  to  step  up  here,"  said  Spike, 
leading  the  way  on  to  the  rock  himself.  "I  have  a  word  to 
say  to  }rou  before  we  get  on  board  the  old  Molly  once  more." 

Mulford  silently  complied,  fully  expecting  that  Spike  intend 
ed  to  blow  his  brains  out,  and  willing  the  bloody  deed  should 
be  done  in  a  way  to  be  as  little  shocking  to  Rose  as  circum- 
stances would  allow.  But  Spike  manifested  no  such  intention. 
A  more  refined  cruelty  was  uppermost  in  his  mind ;  and  his 
revenge  was  calculated,  and  took  care  to  fortify  itself  with 
some  of  the  quibbles  and  artifices  of  the  law.     He  might  not 


JACK     TIER.  301 

be  exactly  right  in  his  legal  reservations,  but  he  did  not  the 
less  rely  on  their  virtue. 

"  Ilark'ee,  Mr.  Mulford,"  said  Spike  sharply,  as  soon  as  both 
were  on  the  :  ock,  "  you  have  run  from  my  brig,  thereby  show- 
ing your  distaste  for  her ;  and  I've  no  disposition  to  keep  a 
man  who  wishes  to  quit  me.  Here  you  are,  sir,  on  terrum  firm, 
as  the  scholars  call  it ;  and  here  you  have  my  full  permission 
to  remain.  I  wish  you  a  good-morning,  sir ;  and  will  not  fail 
to  report,  when  we  get  in,  that  you  left  the  brig  of  your  own 
pleasure.'' 

"  You  will  not  have  the  cruelty  to  abandon  me  on  this  naked 
rock,  Captain  Spike,  and  that  without  a  morsel  of  food,  or  a 
drop  of  water  ?" 

"  Wathet  is  a  blessed  thing !"  exclaimed  Biddy.  "  Do  not 
think  of  lavin'  the  gentleman  widout  wather." 

"  You  left  me,  sir,  without  food  or  water,  and  you  can  fit  out 
your  own  rock — yes,  d — e,  sir,  you  left  me  under  fire,  and  that 
is  a  thing  no  true-hearted  man  would  have  thought  of.  Stand 
by  to  make  sail,  boys ;  and  if  he  offer  to  enter  the  boat,  pitch 
him  out  with  the  boat-hooks." 

Spike  Avas  getting  angry,  and  he  entered  the  boat  again, 
without  perceiving  that  Rose  had  left  it.  Light  of  foot,  and 
resolute  of  spirit,  the  beautiful  girl,  handsomer  than  ever,  per- 
haps, by  her  excited  feelings  and  dishevelled  hair,  had  sprung 
on  the  rock,  as  Spike  stepped  into  the  boat  forward,  and  when 
the  latter  turned  round,  after  loosening  the  sail,  he  found  he 
was  drifting  away  from  the  very  being  who  was  the  object  of 
all  his  efforts.  Mulford,  believing  that  Rose  was  to  be  aban- 
doned as  well  as  himself,  received  the  noble  girl  in  his  arms, 
though  ready  to  implore  Spike,  on  his  knees,  to  return  and  at 
least  to  take  her  off.  But  Spike  wanted  no  solicitation  on  that 
point.  He  returned  of  his  own  accord,  and  had  just  reached 
the  rock  again  when  a  report  of  a  gun  drew  all  eyes  towards 
the.  brig. 

The  Swash  had  again  run  out  of  the  passage,  and  was  beat- 


302  JACK     TIER. 

ing  up,  close  to  the  reef  as  she  dared  to  go,  with  a  signal 
flying.  All  the  seamen  at  once  understood  the  cause  of  this 
hint.  The  strange  sail  was  getting  too  near,  and  everybody 
could  see  that  it  was  the  sloop-of-war.  Spike  looked  at  Rose, 
a  moment,  in  doubt.  But  Mulford  raised  his  beloved  in  hk 
arms,  and  carried  her  to  the  side  of  the  rock,  stepping  on 
board  the  boat. 

Spike  watched  the  movements  of  the  young  man  with  jeal- 
ous vigilance,  and  no  sooner  Avas  Rose  placed  on  her  seat,  than 
he  motioned  significantly  to  the  mate  to  quit  the  boat. 

"  I  cannot  and  will  not  voluntarily,  Captain  Spike,"  answered 
Harry,  calmly.     "  It  would  be  committing  a  sort  of  suicide." 

A  sign  brought  two  of  the  men  to  the  captain's  assistance. 
While  the  latter  held  Rose  in  her. place,  the  sailors  shoved 
Harry  on  the  rock  again..  Ilad  Mulford  been  disposed  to  re- 
sist, these  two  men  could  not  very  easily  have  ejected  him  from 
the  boat,  if  they  could  have  done  it  at  all ;  but  he  knew  there 
were  others  in  reserve,  and  feared  that  blood  might  be  shed, 
in  the  irritated  state  of  Spike,  in  the  presence  of  Rose.  While, 
therefore,  he  would  not  be  accessory  to  his  own  destruction, 
he  would  not  engage  in  what  he  knew  would  prove  not  only 
a  most  harassing,  but  a  bootless  resistance.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  boats  proceeded,  leaving  him  alone  on  the  rock. 

It  was  perhaps  fortunate  for  Rose  that  she  fainted.  Her 
condition  occupied  her  aunt  and  Biddy,  and  Spike  was  enabled 
to  reach  the  brig  without  any  further  interruption.  Rose  was 
taken  on  board  still  nearly  insensible,  while  her  two  female 
companions  were  so  much  confused  and  distressed  that  neither 
could  have  given  a  reasonably  clear  account  of  what  had  just 
occurred.  Not  so  with  Jack  Tier,  however.  That  singular 
being  noted  all  that  passed,  seated  in  the  eyes  of  the  boat, 
away  from  the  confusion  that  prevailed  in  its  stern-sheets,  and 
apparently  undisturbed  by  it. 

As  the  party  was  sailing  back  towards  the  brig,  the  light- 
house boat  towing  the  Swash's  yawl,  Jack  took  as  good  an 


JACK     TIER.  303 

observation  of  the  channels  of  that  part  of  the  reef  as  his  low 
position  would  allow.  He  tried  to  form  in  his  mind  a  sort  ol 
chart  of  the  spot,  for,  from  the  instant  Mulford  was  thus  de- 
serted, the  little  fellow  had  formed  a  stern  resolution  to  attempt 
his  rescue.  How  that  was  to  be  done,  however,  was  more  than 
he  yet  knew  ;  and  when  they  reached  the  brig's  side,  Tier  may 
be  said  to  have  been  filled  with  good  intentions,  rather  than 
with  any  very  available  knowledge  to  enable  him  to  put  them 
in  execution. 

As  respects  the  two  vessels,  the  arrival  of  Spike  on  board 
his  own  was  not  a  moment  too  soon.  The  Poughkeepsie,  for 
the  stranger  to  the  northward  was  now  ascertained  to  be  that 
sloop-of-war,  wras  within  long  gun-shot  by  this  time,  and  neai 
enough  to  make  certain,  by  means  of  her  glasses,  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  craft  with  which  she  was  closing.  Luckily  for  the 
brig  she  lay  in  the  channel  so  often  mentioned,  and  through 
which  both  she  and  her  present  pursuer  had  so  lately  come,  on 
their  way  to  the  northward.  This  brought  her  to  windward, 
as  the  wind  then  stood,  with  a  clear  passage  before  her.  Not 
a  moment  was  lost.  No  sooner  were  the  females  sent  below, 
than  sail  was  made  on  the  brio;,  and  she  beo;an  to  beat  through 
the  passage,  making  long  legs  and  short  ones.  She  was  chased, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  that  hard,  the  difference  in  sailing 
between  the  two  crafts  not  being  sufficiently  great  to  render 
the  brigantine's  escape  by  any  means  certain,  while  absolutely 
within  the  range  of  those  terrible  missiles  that  were  used  by 
the  man-of-war's  men. 

But  Spike  soon  determined  not  to  leave  a  point  so  delicate 
as  that  of  his  own  and  his  vessel's  security  to  be  decided  by  a 
mere  superiority  in  the  way  of  heels.  The  Florida  Reef,  with 
all  its  dangers,  windings,  and  rocks,  was  as  well  known  to  him 
as  the  entrances  to  the  port  of  New  York.  In  addition  to  its 
/arger  channels,  of  which  there  are  three  or  four,  through 
which  ships  of  size  can  pass,  it  had  many  others  that  would 
admit  onlv  vessels  of  a  lighter  draught  of  water.     The  brig 


304 


JACK     TIER, 


was  not  flying  light,  it  is  true,  but  she  was  merely  in  good 
ballast  trim,  and  passages  would  be  available  to  ber,  into  wbicb 
tbe  Poughkeepsie  Avould  not  dare  to  venture.  One  of  tbese 
lesser  channels  was  favorably  placed  to  further  tbe  escape  of 
Spike,  and  he  sboved  tbe  brig  into  it  after  the  struggle  bad 
lasted  less  tban  an  bour.  This  passage  offered  a  sborter  cut 
to  tbe  south  side  of  tbe  reef  tban  tbe  main  channel,  and  tbe 
sloop-of-war,  doubtless  perceiving  tbe  uselessness  of  pursuit, 
under  such  circumstances,  wore  round  on  her  heel,  and  came 
down  through  tbe  main  channel  again,  just  entering  the  open 
water,  near  the  spot  where  the  schooner  had  sunt,  as  the  sun 
was  setting. 


IpU^S. 


JACK      TIER.  IW6 


CHAPTER    X. 

"Shallow.  Did  her  grandsire  leave  lier  seven  hundred  pound  f 
Ktans.  Ay,  and  her  father  is  make  her  a  petter  penny. 
Shallow.  I  know  the  young  gentlewoman;  she  has  good  gifts. 
Evans.  Soven  hundred  pounds,  and  possibilities,  is  good  gifts." 

Shakspeaek. 

As  for  Spike,  he  had  uo  intention  of  going  to  the  southward 
of  the  Florida  Reef  again  until  his  business  called  him  there. 
The  lost  bag  of  doubloons  was  still  gleaming  before  his  imagi- 
nation, and  no  sooner  did  the  Poughkeepsie  bear  up,  than  he 
shortened  sail,  standing  back  and  forth  in  his  narrow  and 
crooked  channel,  rather  losing  ground  than  gaining,  though 
he  took  great  pains  not  to  let  his  artifice  be  seen.  When  the 
Poughkeepsie  was  so  far  to  the  northward  as  to  render  it  safe, 
he  took  in  every  thing  but  one  or  two  of  his  lowest  sails,  and 
followed  easily  in  the  same  direction.  As  the  sloop-of-war 
carried  her  light  and  loftier  sails,  she  remained  visible  to  the 
people  of  the  Swash  long  after  the  Swash  had  ceased  to  be 
visible  to  her.  Profiting  by  this  circumstance,  Spike  entered 
the  main  channel  again  some  time  before  it  was  dark,  and  se- 
lected a  safe  anchorage  there  that  was  well  known  to  him  ;  a 
spot  where  sufficient  sand  had  collected  on  the  coral  to  make 
good  holding-ground,  and  where  a  vessel  would  be  nearly  em- 
bayed, though  always  to  windward  of  her  channel  going  out, 
by  tbe  formation  of  the  reef.  Here  he  anchored,  in  order  to 
wait  until  morning  ere  he  ventured  farther  north.  During  the 
whole  of  that  dreadful  day,  Rose  had  remained  in  her  cabin, 
disconsolate,  nearly  unable,  as  she  was  absolutely  unwilling,  to 
converse.     Now  it  was  that  she  felt  the  total  insufficiency  of  a 


SOG  JACK     TIKH. 

mind  feeble  as  that  of  her  aunt's,  to  administer  consolation  to 
misery  like  her  own.  Nevertheless,  the  affectionate  solicitude 
of  Mrs.  Budd,  as  well  as  that  of  the  faithful  creature,  Biddy, 
brought  some  relief,  and  reason  and  resignation  began  slowly 
to  resume  their  influence.  Yet  was  the  horrible  picture  of  Harry, 
dying  by  inches,  deserted  in  the  midst  of  the  waters  on  his 
solitary  rock,  ever  present  to  her  thoughts,  until,  once  or  twice, 
her  feelings  verged  on  madness.  Prayer  brought  its  customary 
relief,  however ;  and  we  do  not  thiuk  that  we  much  exaggerate 
the  fact,  when  we  say  that  Rose  passed  fully  one  half  of  that 
terrible  afternoon  on  her  knees. 

As  for  Jack  Tier,  he  was  received  on  board  the  brig  much 
as  if  nothing  had  happened.  Spike  passed  and  repassed  him 
fifty  times,  without  even  an  angry  look,  or  a  word  of  abuse ; 
and  the  deputy-steward  dropped  quietly  into  the  duties  of  his 
office,  without  meeting  with  either  reproach  or  hindrance.  The 
only  allusion,  indeed,  that  was  made  to  his  recent  adventures, 
took  place  in  a  conversation  that  was  held  on  the  subject  in  the 
galley,  the  interlocutors  being  Jack  himself,  Josh,  the  steward, 
and  Simon,  the  cook. 

"  Where  you  been  scullin'  to,  'bout  on  dat  reef,  Jack,  wid 
dem  'ere  women,  I  won'er  now  V  demanded  Josh,  after  tasting 
the  cabin  soup,  in  order  to  ascertain  how  near  it  Avas  to  being 
done.  "  I  t'ink  it  no  great  fun  to  dodge  'bout  among  dem  rock 
in  a  boat,  for  anudder  hurricane  might  come  when  a  body 
least  expeck  him." 

"  Oh,"  said  Jack,  cavalierly,  "  two  hurricanes  no  more  come 
in  one  month,  than  two  shot  in  the  same  hole.  We've  been 
turtlin',  that's  all.  I  wish  we  had  in  your  coppers,  cook,  some 
of  the  critters  that  we  fell  in  with  in  our  cruise." 

"  Wish'e  had,  master  steward,  wid  all  my  heart,"  answered 
the  fat,  glistening  potentate  of  the  galley..  "But  hark'ee,  Jack, 
what  became  of  our  young  mate,  can  'e  tell  ?  Some  say  he 
get  kill  at  'e  Dry  Tortugas,  and  some  say  he  war'  scullin'  round 
in  dat  boat  you  hab,  wid  'e  young  woman,  eh.?" 


JACK     TIER.  30k' 

"  Ah,  boys,"  answered  Jack,  mournfully,  "  sure  enough,  what 
has  become  of  him  ?" 

"  You  know,  why  can't  you  tell  ?  What  good  to  hab  secret 
among  friend  ?" 

"Are  ye  his  friends,  lads  ?  Do  you  really  feel  as  if  you  could 
give  a  poor  soul  in  its  agony  a  helpiu'  hand  ?" 

"Why.  not?"  said  Josh,  in  a  reproachful  way.  "Misser 
Mulford's  'e  bess  mate  dis  brig  ebber  get ;  and  I  don't  see  why 
Cap'in  Spike  want  to  be  rid  of  him." 

"Because  he's  a  willian  !"  returned  Jack  between  his  grated 
teeth.  "D've  know  what  that  means  in  English,  master  Josh; 
and  can  you  and  cook  here,  both  of  whom  have  sailed  with 
the  man  years  in  and  years  out,  say  whether  my  words  be  true 
or  not  ?" 

"  Dat  as  a  body  understand  'em.  Accordin'  to  some  rule, 
Stephen  Spike  not  a  werry  honest  man;  but  accordin'  to  'nud- 
der  some,  he  as  good  as  anybody  else." 

"Yes,  dat  just  be  upshot  of  de  matter,"  put  in  Simon,  ap- 
provingly.    "  De  whole  case  lie  in  dat  meanin'." 

"  D'ye  call  it  right  to  leave  a  human  being  to  starve,  or  to 
suffer  for  water,  on  a  naked  rock,  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean  ?" 

"  Who  do  dat  ?" 

"  The  willian  who  is  captain  of  this  brig ;  and  all  because  he 
thinks  young  eyes  and  bloomin'  cheeks  prefar  young  eyes  and 
bloomin'  cheeks  to  his  own  grizzly  beard  and  old  look-outs." 

"  Dat  bad ;  dat  werry  bad,"  said  Josh,  shaking  his  head,  a 
way  of  denoting  dissatisfaction,  in  which  Simon  joined  him ; 
for  no  crime  appeared  sufficiently  grave  in  the  eyes  of  these  two 
sieek  and  well-fed  officials  to  justify  such  a  punishment.  "  Dat 
mons'ous  bad,  and  cap'in  ought  to  kn<  w  better  dan  do  dat.  I 
nebber  starves  a  mouse,  if  I  catches  him  in  de  bread-locker. 
N^ow,  dat  a  sort  of  reason'ble  punishment,  too ;  but  I  nebber 
does  it.  If  mouse  eat  my  bread,  it  do  seem  right  to  tell  mouse 
dat  he  hab  enough,  and  dat  he  must  not  eat  any  more  for  a 
'week,  or  a  mont',  but  it  too  cruel  for  me,  and  I  nebber  does  it ; 


o08  JACK     TIER. 

no,  I  t'rows  de  little  debil  overboard,  and  lets  him  drown  like  a 
gentle'em." 

"Y-e-s,"  drawled  out  Simon,  in  a  philanthropical  tone  of 
voice,  "  dat'e  best  way.  What  good  it  do  to  torment  a  fellow- 
critter  ?  If  Misser  Mulford  run,  why  put  him  down  run,  and 
let  him  go,  I  say,  on'y  mulk  his  wages ;  but  what  good  it  do 
anybody  to  starve  him  ?  Now  dis  is  my  opinion,  gentle'em,  and 
dat  is,  dat  starwation  be  wuss  dan  choleric.  Choleric  kill,  I 
knows,  and  so  does  starwation  kill ;  but  of  de  two,  give  me  de 
choleric  fuss ;  if  I  gets  well  of  dat,  den  try  starwation  if  you 
can." 

"  I'm  glad  to  hear  you  talk  in  this  manner,  my  hearties,"  put 
in  Jack  ;  "  and  I  hope  I  may  find  you  accommodatiu'  in  a  plan 
I've  got  to  help  the  maty  out  of  this  difficulty.  As  a  friend  of 
Stephen  Spike's,  I  would  do  it ;  for  it  must  be  a  terrible  thing 
to  die  with  such  a  murder  on  one's  soul.  Here's  the  boat  that 
we  pick'd  up  at  the  lighthouse,  yonder,  in  tow  of  the  brig  at 
this  minute  ;  and  there's  every  thing  in  her  comfortable  for  a 
good  long  run,  as  I  know  from  having  sailed  in  her ;  and  what 
I  mean  is  this :  as  we  left  Mr.  Mulford,  I  took  the  bearings  and 
distance  of  the  rock  he  was  on,  d'ye  understand,  and  think  I 
could  find  my  way  back  to  it.  You  see  the  brig  is  travellin' 
slowly  north  ag'in,  and  afore  long  we  shall  be  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  that  very  rock.  We,  cook  and  stewards,  will  be  called 
on  to  keep  an  anchor-watch,  if  the  brig  fetches  up,  as  I  heard 
the  captain  tell  the  Spanish  gentleman  he  thought  she  would ; 
and  then  we  can  take  the  boat  that's  in  the  water  and  go  and 
have  a  hunt  for  the  maty." 

The  two  blacks  looked  at  Tier  earnestly  ;  then  they  turned 
their  heads  to  look  at  each  other.  The  idea  struck  each  as 
bold  and  novel,  but  each  saw  serious  difficulties  in  it.  At 
length  Josh,  as  became  his  superior  station,  took  on  himself 
the  office  of  expressing  the  objections  that  occurred  to  his 
mind. 

"  Dat  nebber  do  !"  exclaimed  the  steward.     "We  be's  quite* 


JACK     TIER.  309 

willin'  to  serve'e  mate,  who's  a  good  geutle'era,  and  as  nice  a 
young  man  as  ever  sung  out,  '  hard  a-lee,'  but  we  must  t'ink 
little  bit  of  number  one  ;  or,  for  dat  matter,  of  number  two,  as 
Simon  would  be  implercated  as  well  as  myself.  If  Cap'in 
Spike  once  knew  we've  lent  a  hand  in  sich  a  job,  he'd  never 
overlook  it.  I  knows  him,  well ;  and  that  is  sayin'  as  much  as 
need  be  said  of  any  man's  character.  You  nebber  catch  vie 
runnin'  myself  into  his  jaws  ;  would  rather  fight  a  shark  widout 
any  knife.  No,  no — I  knows  him  well.  Den  comes  anudder 
werry  unanswerable  objecsh'un,  and  dat  is,  dat'e  brig  owe  bot' 
Simon  and  I  money.  Fifty  dollars,  each  on  us,  if  she  owe  one 
cent.  Now,  do  you  t'ink  in  cander,  Jack,  dat  two  color'  gen- 
tle'em,  like  us,  can  t'row  away  our  fortins  like  two  sons  of  a 
York  merchant  dat  has  inherited  a  hundred  t'ousand  dollar 
tudder  day  ?" 

"  There  is  no  occasion  for  running  at  all,  or  for  losing  your 
wages." 

"  How  you  get'e  mate  off,  den  ?  Can  he  walk  away  on  de 
water  ?  If  so,  let  him  go  widout  us.  A  werry  good  gentle' em 
is  Misser  Mulford,  but  not  good  enough  to  mulk  Simon  and  me 
out  of  fifty  dollar  each." 

"You  will  not  hear  my  project,  Josh,  and  so  will  never 
know  what  I  would  be  at." 

"Well,  come,  tell  him  jest  as  yousurposes  him.  Now  listen, 
Simon,  so  dat  not  a  word  be  loss." 

"  My  plan  is  to  take  the  boat,  if  we  anchor,  as  anchor  I 
know  we  shall,  and  go  and  find  the  rock  and  bring  Mr.  Mul- 
ford off;  then  we  can  come  back  to  the  brig,  and  get  on 
board  ourselves,  and  let  the  mate  sail  away  in  the  boat  by 
himself.  On  this  plan  nobody  will  run,  and  no  wages  be 
mulcted." 

"  But  dat  take  time,  and  an  anchor-watch  last  but  two 
hour,  suposin'  even  dat'ey  puts  all  t'ree  of  us  in  de  same 
watch." 

"  Spike  usually  does  that,  you  know.     '  Let  the  cook  and 


310  JACK     TIER. 

the  stewards  keep  the  midnight  watch,'  he  commonly  says, 
'  and  that  will  give  the  foremost  hands  a  better  snooze.'  " 

"  Yes,  he  do  say  dat,  Josh,"  put  in  Simon,  "  most  ebbcry 
time  we  comes-to." 

"  I  know  he  does,  and  surposes  he  will  say  it  to-night,  if  he 
comes-to  to-night.  But  a  two-hour  watch  may  not  be  long 
enough  to  do  all  you  wants ;  and  den,  jest  t'ink  for  a  moment, 
should  'e  cap'in  come  on  deck  and  hail  'e  forecastle,  and  find 
us  all  gone,  I  wouldn't  be  in  your  skin,  Jack,  for  dis  brig,  in 
sich  akerlamity.  I  know  Cap'in  Spike  well ;  t'ree  time  I  endeb- 
bertorun  myself,  and  each  time  he  bring  meupwid  around  turn; 
so,  now-a-days,  I  nebber  t'inks  of  sich  a  projeck  any  longer." 

"  But  I  do  not  intend  to  leave  the  forecastle  without  some 
one  on  it  to  answer  a  hail.  No,  all  I  want  is  a  companion ; 
for  I  do  not  like  to  go  out  on  the  reef  at  midnight,  all  alone. 
If  one  of  you  will  go  with  me,  the  other  can  stay  and  answer 
the  captain's  hail,  should  he  really  come  on  deck  in  our  watch 
— a  thing  very  little  likely  to  happen.  When  once  his  head 
is  on  his  pillow,  a'ter  a  hard  day's  work,  it's  not  very  apt  to 
be  lifted  ag'in  without  a  call,  or  a  squall.  If  you  do  know 
Stephen  Spike  well,  Josh,  I  know  him  better." 

"  Well,  Jack,  dis  here  is  a  new  idee,  d'ye  see,  and  a  body 
must  take  time  to  consider  on  it.  If  Simon  and  I  do  ship  for 
dis  v'y'ge,  'twill  be  for  lub  of  Mr.  Mulford,  and  not  for  his 
money  or  your'n" 

This  was  all  the  encouragement  of  his  project  Jack  Tier 
could  obtain,  on  that  occasion,  from  either  his  brother  steward, 
or  from  the  cook.  These  blacks  were  well  enough  disposed 
to  rescue  an  innocent  and  unoffending  man  from  the  atrocious 
death  to  which  Spike  had  condemned  his  mate,  but  neither 
lost  sight  of  his  own  security  or  interest.  They  promised  Tier 
not  to  betray  him,  however;  and  he  had  the  fullest  confidence 
in  their  pledges.  They  who  live  together  in  common,  usually 
understand  the  feeling  that  prevails,  on  any  given  point,  in 
•heir  own  set;  and  Jack  felt  pretty  certain  that  Harry  was  a 


JACK     TIER.  311 

greater  favorite  in  and  about  the  camboose  than  the  captain. 
On  that  feeling  he  relied,  and  he  was  fain  to  wait  the  course 
of  events,  ere  he  came  to  any  absolute  conclusion  as  to  his 
own  course. 

The  interview  in  the  galley  took  place  about  half  an  hour 
before  the  brig  anchored  for  the  night.  Tier,  who  often  as- 
sisted on  such  occasions,  went  aloft  to  help  secure  the  royal, 
one  of  the  gaskets  of  which  had  got  loose,  and  from  the  yard 
he  had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  take  a  look  at  the  reef,  the 
situation  of  the  vessel,  and  the  probable  bearings  of  the  rock 
on  which  poor  Mulford  had  been  devoted  to  a  miserable  death. 
This  opportunity  was  much  increased  by  Spike's  hailing  him, 
while  on  the  yard,  and  ordering  him  to  take  a  good  look  at 
the  sloop-of-war,  and  at  the  same  time  to  ascertain  if  any 
boats  were  "prowlin'  about,  in  order  to  make  a  set  upon  us  in 
the  night."  On  receiving  this  welcome  order,  Jack  answered 
with  a  cheerful  "Ay,  ay,  sir,"  and  standing  up  on  the  yard, 
he  placed  an  arm  around  the  mast,  and  remained  for  a  long 
time  making  his  observations.  The  command  to  look-out  for 
boats  would  have  been  a  sufficient  excuse  had  he  continued  on 
the  yard  as  long  as  it  was  light. 

Jack  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  Poughkeepsie,  which 
was  already  through  the  passage,  and  no  longer  visible  from 
the  deck.  She  appeared  to  be  standing  to  the  northward  and 
westward,  under  easy  canvas,  like  a  craft  that  was  in  no  hurry. 
This  fact  was  communicated  to  Spike  in  the  usual  way.  The 
latter  seemed  pleased,  and  he  answered  in  a  hearty  manner, 
just  as  if  no  difficulty  had  ever  occurred  between  him  and  the 
steward's  assistant. 

"  Very  well,  Jack !  bravo,  Jack ! — now  take  a  good  look  for 
boats ;  you'll  have  light  enough  for  that  this  half  hour,"  cried 
the  captain.  "If  any  are  out,  you'll  find  them  pulling  down 
the  channel,  or  maybe  they'll  try  to  shorten  the  cut,  by  at- 
tempting to  pull  athwart  the  reef.  Take  a  good  and  steady 
look  for  them   my  man." 


812  JACK     TIER. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir ;  I'll  do  all  I  can  with  Baked  eyes,"  answered 
•Jack,  "  but  I  could  do  better,  sir,  if  they  would  only  send  me 
up  a  glass  by  these  here  signal-halyards.  With  a  glass,  a  fel- 
low might  speak  with  some  sartainty." 

Spike  seemed  struck  with  the  truth  of  this  suggestion  ;  and 
he  soon  sent  up  a  glass  aloft  by  the  signal-halyards.  Thus 
provided,  Jack  descended  as  low  as  the  cross-trees,  -where  he 
took  his  seat,  and  began  to  survey  at  his  leisure.  While  thus 
employed,  the  brig  was  secured  for  the  night,  her  decks  were 
cleared,  and  the  people  were  ordered  to  get  their  suppers,  pre- 
viously to  setting  an  anchor-watch,  and  turning-in  for  the  night. 
No  one  heeded  the  movements  of  Tier — for  Spike  had  gone 
into  his  own  stateroom — with  the  exception  of  Josh  and  Simon. 
Those  two  worthies  were  still  in  the  galley,  conversing  on  the 
subject  of  Jack's  recent  communications  ;  and  ever  and  anon 
one  of  them  would  stick  his  head  out  of  the  door  and  look 
aloft,  withdrawing  it,  and  shaking  it  significantly,  as  soon  as 
his  observations  were  ended. 

As  for  Tier,  he  was  seated  quite  at  his  ease ;  and  having 
slung  his  glass  to  one  of  the  shrouds,  in  a  way  to  admit  of  its 
being  turned  as  on  a  pivot,  he  had  every  opportunity  for  ob- 
serving accurately,  and  at  his  leisure.  The  first  thing  Jack 
did,  was  to  examine  the  channel  very  closely,  in  order  to  make 
sure  that  no  boats  were  in  it,  after  which  he  turned  the  glass 
with  great  eagerness  towards  the  reef,  in  the  almost  hopeless 
office  of  ascertaining  something  concerning  Mulford.  In  point 
of  fact,  the  brig  had  anchored  quite  three  leagues  from  the 
sodtary  rock  of  the  deserted  mate,  and,  favored  as  he  was  by 
his  elevation,  Jack  could  hardly  expect  to  discern  so  small  and 
low  an  object  as  that  rock  at  so  great  a  distance.  Nevertheless, 
the  glass  was  much  better  than  common.  It  had  been  a  present 
to  Spike  from  one  who  was  careful  in  his  selections  of  such 
objects,  and  who  had  accidentally  been  under  a  serious  obliga 
tion  to  the  captain.  Knowing  the  importance  of  a  good  look, 
as  regards  the  boats,  Spike  had  brought  this  particular  instru- 


JACK      TIER.  313 

men!,  of  which,  in  common,  he  was  very  chary,  from  his  own 
stateroom,  and  sent  it  aloft,  in  order  that  Jack  might  have 
every  available  opportunity  of  ascertaining  his  facts.  It  was 
this  glass,  then,  which  was  the  means  of  the  important  dis- 
coveries the  little  fellow,  who  was  thus  perched  on  the  fore- 
topmast  cross-trees  of  the  Swash,  did  actually  succeed  iu  mak- 
ing. 

Jack  actually  started,  when  he  first  ascertained  how  dis- 
tinctly and  near  the  glass  he  was  using  brought  distant  objects. 
The  gulls  that  sailed  across  its  disk,  though  a  league  off,  ap- 
peared as  if  near  enough  to  be  touched  by  the  hand,  and  even 
their  feathers  gave  out  not  only  their  hues,  but  their  form». 
Thus,  too,  was  it  with  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  of  which  the 
little  waves  that  agitated  the  water  of  the  reef,  might  be  seen 
tossing  up  and  down,  at  more  than  twice  the  range  of  the  Pough- 
keepsie's  heaviest  gun.  Naked  rocks,  low  and  subdued  as  they 
were  in  color,  too,  were  to  be  noted,  scattered  up  and  down  in 
the  panorama.  At  length  Tier  fancied  his  glass  covered  a  field 
that  he  recognized.  It  was  distant,  but  might  be  seen  from 
his  present  elevation.  A  second  look  satisfied  him  he  was 
right ;  and  he  next  clearly  traced  the  last  channel  in  which 
they  had  endeavored  to  escape  from  Spike,  or  that  in  which  the 
boat  had  been  taken.  Following  it  along,  by  slowly  moving 
the  glass,  he  actually  hit  the  rock  on  which  Mulford  had  been 
deserted.  It  was  peculiar  in  shape,  size,  and  elevation  above 
the  water,  and  connected  with  the  circumstance  of  the  channel, 
which  was  easy  enough  seen  by  the  color  of  the  water,  and 
more  easily  from  his  height  than  if  he  had  been  in  it,  he  could 
not  be  mistaken.  The  little  fellow's  heart  beat  quick  as  he 
made  the  glass  move  slowly  over  its  surface,  anxiously  search- 
ing for  the  form  of  the  mate.  It  was  not  to  be  seen.  A  second, 
and  a  more  careful  sweep  of  the  glass,  made  it  certain  that  the 
rock  was  deserted. 

Although  a  little  reflection  might  have  satisfied  any  one 
Mulford  was  not  to  be  sought,  in  that  particular  spot,  so  long 

14 


314  JACK     TIER, 

after  lie  had  been  left  there,  Jack  Tier  felt  grievously  disap- 
pointed when  he  was  first  made  certain  of  the  accuracy  of  his 
observations.  A  minute  later  he  began  to  reason  on  the  mat- 
ter, and  he  felt  more  encouraged.  The  rock  on  which  the 
mate  had  been  abandoned  was  smooth,  and  could  not  hold  any 
fresh  water  that  might  have  been  left  by  the  late  showers. 
Jack  also  remembered  that  it  had  neither  sea-weed  nor  shell- 
fish. In  short,  the  utmost  malice  of  Spike  could  not  have  se- 
lected, for  the  immolation  of  his  victim,  a  more  suitable  place. 
Now  Tier  had  heard  Harry's  explanation  to  Rose,  touching  the 
manner  in  which  he  had  waded  and  swum  about  the  reef  that 
very  morning,  and  it  at  once  occurred  to  him  that  the  young 
man  had  too  much  energy  and  spirit  to  remain  helpless  and 
inactive  to  perish  on  a  naked  rock,  when  there  might  be  a 
possibility  of  at  least  prolonging  existence,  if  not  of  saving  it. 
This  induced  the  steward  to  turn  the  glass  slowly  over  the 
water,  and  along  all  the  ranges  of  visible  rock  that  he  could 
find  in  that  vicinity.  For  a  long  time  the  search  was  useless, 
the  distance  rendering  such  an  examination  not  only  difficult, 
but  painful.  At  length  Jack,  about  to  give  up  the  matter  in 
despair,  took  one  sweep  with  the  glass  nearer  to  the  brig,  as 
much  to  obtain  a  general  idea  of  the  boat-channels  of  the  reef, 
as  in  any  hope  of  finding  Mulford,  when  an  object  moving  in 
the  water  came  within  the  field  of  the  glass.  He  saw  it  but 
for  an  instant,  as  the  glass  swept  slowly  past,  but  it  struck  him, 
it  was  something  that  had  life,  and  was  in  motion.  Carefully 
o-oinof  over  the  same  ground  ao;ain,  after  a  lows;  search,  he 

O  O  DO*  D  * 

again  found  what  he  so  anxiously  sought;  A  good  look  satis- 
fied him  that  he  was  right.  It  was  certainly  a  man  wading 
along  the  shallow  water  of  the  reef,  immersed  to  his  waist — 
and  it  must  be  Mulford. 

So  excited  was  Jack  Tier  by  this  discovery  that  he  trembled 
like  a  leaf.  A  minute  or  two  elapsed  before  he  could  again 
use  the  glass ;  and  when  he  did,  a  long  and  anxious  search 
was  necessary  before  so   small   an  object  could  be  once  more 


JACK     X  IE  R.  315 

found.  Find  it  be  did,  however,  and  then  lie  got  its  range  by 
the  vessel,  in  a  way  to  make  sure  of  it.  Yes,  it  was  a  man, 
and  it  was  Mulford. 

Circumstances  conspired  to  aid  Jack  in  the  investigation  that 
succeeded.  The  sun  was  near  setting,  but  a  stream  of  golden 
light  gleamed  over  the  waters,  particularly  illuminating  the 
portion  which  came  within  the  field  of  the  glass.  It  appeared 
then  that  Harry,  in  his  efforts  to  escape  from  the  rock,  and  to 
get  nearer  to  the  edge  of  the  main  channel,  where  his  chances 
of  being  seen  and  rescued  would  be  tenfold  what  they  were 
on  his  rock,  had  moved  south,  by  following  the  naked  reef  and 
the  shallow  places,  and  was  actually  more  than  a  league  nearer 
to  the  brig  than  he  would  have  been  had  he  remained  sta- 
tionary. There  had  been  hours  in  which  to  make  this  change, 
and  the  young  man  had  probably  improved  them  to  the  ut- 
most. 

Jack  watched  the  form  that  was  wading  slowly  along  with 
an  interest  he  had  never  before  felt  in  the  movements  of  any 
human  being.  Whether  Mulford  saw  the  brig  or  not,  it  was 
difficult  to  say.  She  was  quite  two  leagues  from  him,  and, 
now  that  her  sails  were  furled,  she  offered  but  little  for  the 
eye  to  rest  on  at  that  distance.  At  first,  Jack  thought  the 
young  man  was  actually  endeavoring  to  get  nearer  to  her, 
though  it  must  have  been  a  forlorn  hope  that  should  again 
place  him  in  the  hands  of  Spike.  It  was,  however,  a  more 
probable  conjecture  that  the  young  man  was  endeavoring  to 
reach  the  margin  of  the  passage,  where  a  good  deal  of  rock 
was  above  water,  and  near  to  which  he  had  already  managed 
to  reach.  At  one  time  Jack  saw  that  the  mate  was  ubliged  tc 
swim,  and  he  actually  lost  sight  of  him  for  a  time.  His  form, 
however,  reappeared,  and  then  it  slowly  emerged  from  the 
tfater,  and  stood  erect  on  a  bare  rock  of  some  extent.  Jack 
Veathed  freer  at  this ;  for  Mulford  was  now  on  the  very  margin 
of  the  channel,  and  might  be  easily  reached  by  the  boat,  should 
he  prevail  on  Josh,  or  Simon,  to  attempt  the  rescue. 


316  JACK     TIER. 

At  first,  Jack  Tier  fancied  that  Mulfor'd  had  knelt  to  return 
thanks  on  his  arrival  at  a  place  of  comparative  safety  ;  but  a 
second  look  satisfied  him  that  Harry  was  drinking  from  one  of 
the  little  pools  of  fresh  water  left  by  the  late  shower.  When 
he  rose  from  drinking,  the  young  man  walked  about  the  place, 
occasionally  stooping,  signs  that  he  was  picking  up  shell-fish 
for  his  supper.  Suddenly,  Mulford  darted  forward  and  passed 
beyond  the  field  of  the  glass.  When  Jack  found  him  again, 
he  was  in  the  act  of  turning  a  small  turtle,  using  his  knife  on 
the  animal  immediately  after.  Had  Jack  been  in  danger  of 
starvation  himself,  and  found  a  source  of  food  as  ample  and  as 
grateful  as  this,  he  could  scarcely  have  been  more  delighted. 
The  light  now  began  to  wane  perceptibly,  still  Harry's  move- 
ments could  be  discerned.  The  turtle  was  killed  and  dressed, 
sufficiently  at  least  for  the  mate's  purposes,  and  the  latter  was 
seen  collecting  sea-weed,  and  bits  of  plank,  boards,  and  sticks 
of  wood,  of  which  more  or  less,  in  drifting  past,  had  lodged 
upon  the  rocks.  "  Is  it  possible,"  thought  Jack,  "  that  he  is  so 
werry  partie'lar  he  can't  eat  his  turtle  raw  !  Will  he,  indeed, 
venture  to  light  a  fire,  or  has  he  the  means  ?"  Mulford  was 
so  particular,  however,  he  did  venture  to  light  a  fire,  and  he 
had  the  means.  This  may  be  said  to  be  the  age  of  matches — 
not  in  a  connubial,  though  in  an  inflammatory  sense — and  the 
mate  had  a  small  stock  in  a  tight  box  that  he  habitually  car- 
ried on  his  person.  Tier  saw  him  at  work  over  a  little  pile  he 
had  made,  for  a  long  time,  the  beams  of  day  departing  now  so 
fast  as  to  make  him  fearful  he  should  soon  lose  his  object  in 
the  increasing  obscurity  of  twilight.  Suddenly  a  light  gleamed, 
and  the  pile  sent  forth  a  clear  flame.  Mulford  went  to  and 
fro,  collecting  materials  to  feed  his  fire,  and  was  soon  busied  in 
cooking  his  turtle.  All  this  Tier  saw  and  understood,  the  light 
of  the  flames  coming  in  proper  time  to  supply  the  vacuum  left 
by  the  departure  of  that  of  day. 

In  a  minute  Tier  had  no  difficulty  in  seeing  the  fire  that 
Mulford  had  lighted  on  his  low  and  insulated  domains  with  the 


JACK      i'lEB,  317 

oalced  eye.  It  gleamed  brightly  in  that  solitary  place ;  and 
the  steward  was  much  afraid  it  would  be  seen  by  some  one  on 
deck,  get  to  be  reported  to  Spike,  and  lead  to  Harry's  destruc- 
tion after  all.  The  mate  appeared  to  be  insensible  to  his  dan- 
ger, however,  occasionally  casting  piles  of  dry  sea-weed  on  his 
fire,  in  a  way  to  cause  the  flames  to  flash  up,  as  if  kindled  anew 
by  gunpowder.  It  now  occurred  to  Tier  that  the  young  man 
had  a  double  object  in  lighting  this  fire,  which  would  answer 
not  only  the  purposes  of  his  cookery,  but  as  a  signal  of  distress 
to  any  thing  passing  near.  The  sloop-of-war,  though  more  dis- 
tant than  the  brig,  -was  in  his  neighborhood  ;  and  she  might 
possibly  yet  send  relief.  Such  was  the  state  of  things  when 
Jack  was  startled  by  a  sudden  hail  from  below.  It  was  Spike's 
voice,  and  came  up  to  him  short  and  quick. 

"  Fore-topmast  cross-trees,  there !  What  are  ye  about  all 
this  time,  Master  Jack  Tier,  in  them  fore-topmast  cross-trees,  I 
say  ?"  demanded  Spike. 

"  Keeping  a  look-out  for  boats  from  the  sloop-of-war,  as  you 
bade  me,  sir,"  answered  Jack,  coolly. 

"  D'ye  see  any,  my  man  ?  Is  the  water  clear  ahead  of  us,  or 
not  ?" 

"  It's  getting  to  be  so  dark,  sir,  I  can  see  no  longer.  "While 
there  was  daylight,  no  boat  was  to  be  seen." 

"  Come  down,  man — come  down  ;  I've  business  for  you  be- 
low. The  sloop  is  far  enough  to  the  nor'ard,  and  we  shall 
neither  see  nor  hear  from  her  to-night.  Come  down,  I  say, 
Jack — come  down." 

Jack  obeyed,  and  securing  the  glass,  he  began  to  descend  the 
rigging.  He  was  soon  as  low  as  the  top,  when  he  paused  a 
moment  to  take  another  look.  The  fire  was  still  visible,  shining 
like  a  torch  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  casting  its  beams  abroad 
like  "  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world."  Jack  was  sorry  to  see 
it,  though  he  once  more  took  its  bearing  from  the  brig,  in  or- 
der that  he  might  know  where  to  find  the  spot,  in  the  event  of 
a  search  for  it.     When   on  the  stretcher  of  the  fore-rigging, 


318  J1CK      TIER. 

Jack  stopped  and  again  looked  for  his  beacon.  It  had  disap- 
peared, having  sunk  below  the  circular  formation  of  the  earth. 
By  ascending  two  or  three  ratlins,  it  came  into  view,  and  bj' 
going  down  as  low  as  the  stretcher  again  it  disappeared.  Trust- 
ing that  no  one,  at  that  hour,  would  have  occasion  to  go  aloft, 
Jack  now  descended  to  the  deck,  and  went  aft  with  the  spy-glass. 

Spike  and  the  Senor  Montefalderon  were  under  the  coach- 
house, no  one  else  appearing  on  any  part  of  the  quarter-deck. 
The  people  were"  eating  their  suppers,  and  Josh  and  Simon 
were  busy  in  the  galley.  As  for  the  females,  they  chose  to 
remain  in  their  own  cabin,  where  Spike  was  well  pleased  to 
leave  them. 

"  Come  this  way,  Jack,"  said  the  captain,  in  his  best-humored 
tone  of  voice,  "  I've  a  word  to  say  to  you.  Put  the  glass  in 
at  my  stateroom  window,  and  come  hither." 

Tier  did  as  ordered. 

"  So  you  can  make  out  no  boats  to  the  nor'ard,  ha,  Jack ! 
nothing  to  be  seen  thereaway?" 

"  Nothing  in  the  way  of  a  boat,  sir." 

"  Ay,  ay,  I  dare  say  there's  plenty  of  water,  and  some  rock. 
The  Florida  Reef  has  no  scarcity  of  either,  to  them  that  knows 
where  to  look  for  one,  and  to  steer  clear  of  the  other.  Ilark'e, 
Jack;  so  you  got  the  schooner  under  way  from  the  Dry  Tor- 
tugas,  and  undertook  to  beat  her  up  to  Key  West,  when  she 
fancied  herself  a  turtle,  and  over  she  went  with  you — is  that  it, 
my  man  ?" 

"  The  schooner  turned  turtle  with  us,  sure  enough,  sir ;  and 
we  all  came  near  drowning  on  her  bottom." 

"  No  sharks  in  that  latitude  and  longitude,  eh  Jack  ?" 

"  Plenty  on  'em,  sir ;  and  I  thought  they  would  have  got  us 
all,  at  one  time.  More  than  twenty  set  of  fins  were  in  sight  at 
once,  for  several  hours." 

"  You  could  hardly  have  supplied  the  gentlemen  with  a  leg, 
or  an  arm,  each.  But  where  was  the  boat  all  this  time — you 
had  the  lighthouse  boat  in  tow,  I  suppose  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  319 

"  She  Lad  been  in  tow,  sir ;  but  Madam  Budd  talked  so  much 
dictionary  to  the  painter  that  it  got  adrift." 

"  Yet  I  found  you  all  in  it." 

"Very  true,  sir.  Mr.  Mulford  swam  quite  a  mile  to  reach 
the  rocks,  and  found  the  boat  aground  on  one  on  'em.  As  soon 
as  he  got  the  boat,  he  made  sail,  and  came  and  took  us  off. 
We  had  reason  to  thank  God  he  could  do  so." 

Spike  looked  dark  and  thoughtful.  He  muttered  the  words 
"  swam,"  aud  "  rocks,"  but  was  too  cautious  to  allow  any  expres- 
sions to  escape  him,  that  might  betray  to  the  Mexican  officer 
that  which  was  uppermost  in  his  mind.  He  was  silent,  how- 
ever, for  quite  a  minute,  and  Jack  saw  that  he  had  awakened 
a  dangerous  source  of  distrust  in  the  captain's  breast. 

"  Well,  Jack,"  resumed  Spike,  after  the  pause,  "  can  you  tell 
any  thing  of  the  doubloons  ?  I  nat'rally  expected  to  find  them 
in  the  boat,  but  there  was  none  to  be  seen.  You  scarcely 
pumped  the  schooner  out,  without  overhauling  her  lockers, 
and  falling  in  with  them  doubloons." 

"  We  found  them,  sure  enough,  and  had  them  ashore  with 
us,  in  the  tent,  down  to  the  moment  when  we  sailed." 

"When  you  took  them  off  to  the  schooner,  eh?  My  life  for 
it,  the  gold  was  not  forgotten." 

"  It  was  not,  sure  enough,  sir ;  but  we  took  it  off  with  us  to 
the  schooner,  and  it  went  down  in  her  when  she  finally  sunk." 

Another  pause,  during  which  Senor  Montefalderon  and  Cap- 
tain Spike  looked  significantly  at  each  other. 

"  Do  you  think,  Jack,  you  could  find  the  spot  where  the 
schooner  went  down?" 

"I  could  come  pretty  near  it,  sir,  though  not  on  the  very 
spot  itself.  Water  leaves  no  mark  over  the  grave  of  a  sunken 
ship." 

"  If  you  can  take  us  within  a  reasonable  distance,  we  might 
find  it  by  sweeping  for  it.  Them  doubloons  are  worth  some 
trouble ;  and  their  recovery  would  be  better  than  a  long  v'y'ge 
to  us,  any  day." 


320  JACK     TIER. 

"  They  would,  indeed,  Don  Esteban,"  observed  the  Mexican ; 
"and  my  poor  country  is  not  in  a  condition  to  bear  heavy 
losses.  If  Senor  Jack  Tier  can  find  the  wreck,  and  Ave  regain 
the  money,  ten  of -those  doubloons  shall  be  his  reward,  though 
I  take  them  from  my  own  share,  much  diminished  as  it  will 
be." 

"You  hear,  Jack — here  is  a  chance  to  make  your  fortune! 
You  say  you  sailed  with  me  in  old  times — and  old  times  were 
good  times  with  this  brig,  though  times  has  changed ;  but  if 
you  sailed  with  me,  in  old  times,  you  must  remember  that 
whatever  the  Swash  touched  she  turned  to  gold." 

"  I  hope  you  don't  doubt,  Captain  Spike,  my  having  sailed 
in  the  brig,  not  only  in  old  times,  but  in  her  best  times." 

Jack  seemed  hurt  as  he  put  this  question,  and  Spike  appear- 
ed in  doubt.  The  latter  gazed  at  the  little,  rotund,  queer-look- 
ing figure  before  him,  as  if  endeavoring  to  recognize  him ;  and 
when  he  had  done,  he  passed  his  hand  over  his  brow,  like  one 
who  endeavored  to  recall  past  objects  by  excluding  those  that 
are  present. 

"You  will  then  show  us  the  spot  Avhere  my  unfortunate 
schooner  did  sink,  Senor  Jack  Tier  ?"  put  in  the  Mexican. 

"  With  all  my  heart,  senor,  if  it  is  to  be  found.  I  think  I 
could  take  you  within  a  cable's  length  of  the  place,  though 
hunger,  and  thirst,  and  sharks,  and  the  fear  of  drowning,  will 
keep  a  fellow  from  having  a  very  bright  look-out  for  such  a 
matter." 

"In  what  water  do  you  suppose  the  craft  to  lie,  Jack?"  de- 
manded the  captain. 

"  You  know  as  much  of  that  as  I  do  myself,  sir.  She  went 
down  about  the  cable's  length  from  the  reef,  towards  which  she 
was  a  settin'  at  the  time ;  and  had  she  kept  afloat  an  hour 
longer,  she  might  have  grounded  on  the  rocks." 

"  She's  better  where  she  is,  if  we  can  only  find  her  by  sweep- 
ing. On  the  rocks  we  could  do  nothing  with  her  but  break  her 
up,  and  ten  to  one  the  doubloons  would  be  lost.     By  the  way 


JACK      TIER.  321 

Jack,  do  you  happen  to  know  where  that  scoundrel  of  a  mate 
of  mine  stowed  the  money  ?" 

"  When  we  left  the  island,  I  carried  it  down  to  the  boat  my- 
self— and  a  good  lift  I  had  of  it.  As  sure  as  you  are  there, 
senor,  I  was  obliged  to  take  it  on  a  shoulder.  When  it  came 
out  of  the  boat,  Mr.  Mulford  carried  it  below ;  and  I  heard  him  tell 
Miss  Rose,  a'terwards,  that  he  had  thrown  it  into  a  bread-locker." 

"  Where  we  shall  find  it,  Don  Wan,  notwithstanding  all  this 
veering  and  hauling.  The  old  brig  has  luck  when  doubloons 
are  in  question,  and  ever  has  had  since  I've  commanded  her. 
Jack,  we  shall  have  to  call  on  the  cook  and  stewards  for  an 
anchor-watch  to-night.  The  people  are  a  good  deal  fagged  with 
boxing  about  this  reef  so  much,  and  I  shall  want 'em  all  as  fresh 
to-morrow  as  they  can  be  got.  You  idlers  had  better  take  the 
middle  watches,  which  will  give  the  forecastle  chaps  longer  naps." 

"Ay,  ay,  sir;  we'll  manage  that  for  'em.  Josh  and  Simon 
can  go  on  at  twelve,  and  I  will  take  the  watch  at  two,  which 
will  give  the  men  all  the  rest  they  want,  as  I  can  hold  out  for 
four  hours  full.  I'm  as  good  for  an  anchor-watch  as  any  man 
iii  the  brig,  Captain  Spike." 

"  That  you  are,  Jack,  and  better  than  some  on  'em.  Take 
you  all  round,  and  round  it  is,  you're  a  rum  'un,  my  lad — the 
queerest  little  jigger  that  ever  lay  out  on  a  royal-yard." 

Jack  might  have  been  a  little  offended  at  Spike's  compli- 
ments, but  he  was  certainly  not  sorry  to  find  him  so  good- 
natured,  after  all  that  had  passed.  He  now  left  the  captain, 
and  his  Mexican  companion,  seemingly  in  close  conference  to- 
gether, while  he  went  below  himself,  and  dropped  as  naturally 
into  the  routine  of  his  duty,  as  if  he  had  never  left  the  brig. 
In  the  cabin  he  found  the  females,  of  course,  Rose  scarce  rais- 
ing her  face  from  the  shawl  which  lay  on  the  bed  of  her 
own  berth.  Jack  busied  himself  in  a  locker  near  this  berth, 
until  an  opportunity  occurred  to  touch  Rose,  unseen  by  her 
aunt  or  Biddy.  The  poor  heart-stricken  girl  raised  her  face, 
from  which  all   the   color  had  departed,   and  looked  almost 


322  JACK     TIER. 

vacantly  at  Jack,  as  if  to  ask  an  explanation.  Hope  is  truly, 
by  a  most  benevolent  provision  of  Providence,  one  of  the  very 
last  blessings  to  abandon  us.  It  is  probable  that  we  are  thus 
gifted,  in  order  to  encourage  us  to  rely  on  the  great  atonement 
to  the  last  moment, since,  without  this  natural  endowment  to  cling 
to  hope,  despair  might  well  be  the  fate  of  millions,  who,  there  is 
reason  to  think,  reap  the  benefit  of  that  act  of  divine  mercy.  It 
would  hardly  do  to  say  that  any  thing  like  hope  was  blended  with 
the  look  Rose  now  cast  on  Jack,  but  it  was  anxious  and  inquiring. 

The  steward  bent  his  head  to  the  locker,  bringing  his  face 
quite  near  to  that  of  Rose,  and  whispered — "  There  is  hope, 
Miss  Rose — but  do  not  betray  me." 

These  were  blessed  words  for  our  heroine  to  hear,  and  they 
produced  an  immediate  and  great  revolution  in  her  feelings. 
Commanding  herself,  however,  she  looked  her  questions,  instead 
of  trusting  even  to  a  whisper.  Jack  did  not  say  any  more,  just 
then ;  but,  shortly  after,  he  called  Rose,  whose  eyes  were  now 
never  off  him,  into  the  main  cabin,  which  was  empty.  It  was 
so  much  pleasanter  to  sleep  in  an  airy  stateroom  on  deck,  that 
Senor  Montefalderon,  indeed,  had  given  up  the  use  of  this  cabin, 
in  a  great  measure,  seldom  appearing  in  it,  except  at  meals, 
having  taken  possession  of  the  deserted  apartment  of  Mulford. 
Josh  was  in  the  galley,  where  he  spent  most  of  his  time,  aud 
Rose  and  Jack  had  no  one  to  disturb  their  conference. 

"  He  is  safe,  Miss  Rose — God  be  praised  !"  whispered  Jack. 
"  Safe  for  the  present,  at  least ;  with  food,  and  water,  and  fire 
to  keep  him  warm  at  night." 

It  was  impossible  for  Rose  not  to  understand  to  whom  there 
was  allusion,  though  her  head  became  dizzy  under  the  painful 
confusion  that  prevailed  in  it.  She  pressed  her  temples  with 
both  hands,  and  asked  a  thousand  questions  with  her  eyes. 
Tack  considerately  handed  her  a  glass  of  water  before  he  pro- 
ceeded. As  soon  as  he  found  her  a  little  more  composed,  he 
related  the  facts  connected  with  his  discovery  of  Mulford,  pre- 
cisely as  they  had  occurred. 


JACK     TIER.  323 

"lie  is  now  on  a  large  rock — a  little  island,  indeed — where 
he  is  safe  from  the  ocean  unless  it  come  on  to  blow  a  hurricane," 
concluded  Jack,  "  and  has  fresh  water  and  fresh  turtle  in  the  bar- 
gain. A  man  might  live  a  month  on  one  such  turtle  as  I  saw 
Mr.  Mulford  cutting  up  this  evening." 

"  Is  there  no  way  of  rescuing  him  from  the  situation  you 
have  mentioned,  Jack  ?  In  a  year  or  two  I  shall  be  my  own 
mistress,  and  have  money  to  do  as  I  please  with  ;  put  me  only 
in  the  way  of  taking  Mr.  Mulford  from  that  rock,  and  I  will 
share  all  I  am  worth  on  earth  with  you,  clear  Jack." 

"  Ay,  so  it  is  with  the  whole  sex,"  muttered  Tier ;  "  let  them 
only  once  give  up  their  affections  to  a  man,  and  he  becomes 
dearer  to  them  than  pearls  and  rubies !  But  you  know  me, 
Miss  Rose,  and  know  why  and  hoiv  well  I  would  sarve  you. 
My  story  and  my  feeliu's  are  as  much  your  secret,  as  your  story 
and  your  feeliu's  is  mine.  We  shall  pull  together,  if  we  don't 
pull  .so  very  strong.  Now,hearken  to  me, Miss  Rose,  and  I  will  let 
you  into  the  secret  of  my  plan  to  help  Mr.  Mulford  make  a  launch." 

Jack  then  communicated  to  his  companion  his  whole  project 
fur  the  night.  Spike  had,  of  his  own  accord,  given  to  him  and 
his  two  associates,  Simon  and  Josh,  the  care  of  the  brig  be- 
tween midnight  and  morning.  If  he  could  prevail  on  either 
of  these  two  men  to  accompany  him,  it  was  his  intention  to 
take  the  lighthouse  boat,  which  was  riding  by  its  painter  astern 
of  the  brig,  and  proceed  as  fast  as  they  could  to  the  spot  whither 
Mulford  had  found  his  way.  By  his  calculations,  if  the  wind 
stood  as  it  then  wras,  little  more  than  an  hour  would  be  neces- 
sary to  reach  the  rock,  and  about  as  much  more  to  return. 
Should  the  breeze  lull,  of  which  there  was  no  great  danger, 
since  the  easterly  trades  were  again  blowing,  Jack  thought  he 
and  Josh  might  go  over  the  distance  with  the  oars  in  about 
double  the  time.  Should  both  Josh  and  Simon  refuse  to  ac- 
company him,  he  thought  he  should  attempt  the  rescue  of  the 
mate  alone,  did  the  wind  stand,  trusting  to  Mulford's  assistance, 
should  he  need  it,  in  getting  back  to  the  brig. 


324  JACK     TIER. 

"  You  surely  would  not  come  back  here  with  Harry,  did  you 
once  get  him  safe  from  off  that  rock !"  exclaimed  Rose. 

"  Why,  you  know  how  it  is  with  me,  Miss  Rose,"  answered 
Jack.  "  My  business  is  here,  on  board  the  Swash,  and  I  must 
attend  to  it.  Nothing  shall  tempt  me  to  give  up  the  brig  so 
long  as  she  floats,  and  sartain  folk  float  in  her,  unless  it  might 
be  some  such  matter  as  that  which  happened  on  the  bit  of  an 
island  at  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Ah  !  he's  a  willian  !  But  if  I  do 
come  back,  it  will  be  only  to  get  into  my  own  proper  berth 
ag'in,  and  not  to  bring  Mr.  Mulford  into  the  lion's  jaws.  He 
will  only  have  to  put  me  back  on  board  the  Molly  here,  when  he 
can  make  the  best  of  his  own  way  to  Key  West.  Half  an  hour 
would  place  him  out  of  harm's  way ;  especially  as  I  happen  to 
know  the  course  Spike  means  to  steer  in  the  morning." 

"I  will  go  with  you,  Jack,"  said  Rose,  mildly,  but  with  great 
firmness. 

"  You,  Miss  Rose  !  But  why  should  I  show  surprise  ?  R's 
like  all  the  sex,  when  they  have  given  away  their  affections. 
Yes,  woman  will  be  woman,  put  her  on  a  naked  rock,  or  put  her 
in  silks  and  satins  in  her  parlor  at  home.  How  different  is  it 
with  men !  They  dote  for  a  little  while,  and  turn  to  a  new 
face.     It  must  be  said,  men's  willians  !" 

"  Not  Mulford,  Jack — no,  not  Harry  Mulford  !  A  truer  or  a 
nobler  heart  never  beat  in  a  human  breast;  and  you  and  I  will 
drown  together,  rather  than  he  should  not  be  taken  from  that  rock." 

"It  shall  be  as  you  say,"  answered  Jack,  a  little  thoughtfully. 
"  Perhaps  it  would  be  best  that  you  should  quit  the  brig  alto- 
gether. Spike  is  getting  desperate,  and  you  will  be  safer  with 
the  young  mate  than  with  so  great  an  old  willian.  Yes,  you 
shall  go  with  me,  Miss  Rose  ;  and  if  Josh  and  Simon  both  re- 
fuse, we  will  go  alone." 

"  With  you,  Jack,  but  not  with  Mr.  Mulford.  I  cannot  de- 
sert my  aunt,  nor  can  I  quit  the  Swash  alone  in  company  with 
her  mate.  As  for  Spike,  I  despise  him  too  much  to  fear  him. 
He  must  soon  go  into  port  somewhere,  and  at  the  first  place 


JACK     TIER.  325 

where  he  touches  we  shall  quit  him.  lie  dare  not  detain  us — 
nay,  he  camiot — and  I  do  not  fear  him.  We  shall  save  Harry, 
but  I  shall  remain  with  my  aunt." 

"We'll  see,  Miss  Rose,  we'll  see,"  said  Tier,  smiling.  "Per- 
haps a  handsome  young  man,  like  Mr.  Mulford,  will  have  better 
luck  in  persuading  you  than  an  old  fellow  like  me.  If  he 
should  tail,  'twrill  be  his  own  fault." 

So  thought  Jack  Tier,  judging  of  women  as  he  had* found 
them,  but  so  did  not  think  Rose  Budd.  The  conversation  ended 
here,  however,  each  keeping  in  view  its  purport,  and  the  serious 
business  that  was  before  them. 

The  duty  of  the  vessel  wTent  on  as  usual.  The  night  promised 
to  be  clouded,  but  not  very  dark,  as  there  was  a  moon.  When 
Spike  ordered  the  anchor-watches,  he  had  great  care  to  spare 
his  crew  as  much  as  possible,  for  the  next  day  was  likely  to 
be  one  of  great  toil  to  them.  He  intended  to  get  the  schooner 
up  again,  if  possible ;  and  though  he  might  not  actually  pump 
her  out  so  as  to  cause  her  to  float,  enough  water  was  to  be  re- 
moved to  enable  him  to  get  at  the  doubloons.  The  situation 
of  the  bread-locker  was  known,  and  as  soon  as  the  cabin  was 
sufficiently  freed  from  water  to  enable  one  to  move  about  in  it, 
Spike  did  not  doubt  his  being  able  to  get  at  the  gold.  With 
his  resources  and  ingenuity,  the  matter  in  his  own  mind  wTas 
reduced  to  one  of  toil  and  time.  Eight-and-forty  hours,  and 
some  hard  labor,  he  doubted  not  would  effect  all  he  cared  for. 

In  setting  the  anchor-watches  for  the  night,  therefore,  Stephen 
Spike  bethought  him  as  much  of  the  morrow  as  of  the  present 
moment.  Don  Juan  offered  to  remain  on  deck  until  midnight, 
and  as  he  was  as  capable  of  giving  an  alarm  as  any  one  else, 
the  offer  was  accepted.  Josh  and  Simon  were  to  succeed  the 
Mexican,  and  to  hold  the  look-out  for  two  hours,  when  Jack 
was  to  relieve  them,  and  to  continue  on  deck  until  light  re- 
turned, when  he  was  to  give  the  captain  a  call.  This  arrange- 
jient  made,  Tier  turned  in  at  once,  desiring  the  cook  to  call 
him  half  an  hour  before  the  proper  period  of  his  wratch  com- 


32G  JACK     TIER. 

raenced.  That  half  hour  Jack  intended  to  employ  in  exercis- 
ing his  eloquence  in  endeavoring  to  persuade  either  Josh  or 
Simon  to  he  of  his  party.  By  eight  o'clock  the  vessel  lay  in  a 
profound  quiet,  Seiior  Montefalderon  pacing  the  quarter-deck 
alone,  while  the  deep  breathing  of  Spike  was  to  he  heard  is- 
suing through  the  open  window  of  his  stateroom  ;  a  window 
which,  it  may  he  well  to  say  to  the  uninitiated,  opened  in-board, 
or  towards  the  deck,  and  not  out-board,  or  towards  the  sea. 

For  four  solitary  hours  did  the  Mexican  pace  the  deck  of  the 
stranger,  resting  himself  for  a  few  minutes  at  a  time  only,  when 
wearied  with  walking.  Does  the  reader  fancy  that  a  man  so 
situated  had  not  plenty  of  occupation  for  his  thoughts?  Don 
Juan  Montefalderon  was  a  soldier  and  a  gallant  cavalier ;  and 
love  of  country  had  alone  induced  him  to  engage  in  his  present 
duties.  Not  that  patriotism  which  looks  to  political  preferment 
through  a  popularity  purchased  by  the  vulgar  acclamation 
which  attends  success  in  arms,  even  when  undeserved,  or  that 
patriotism  which  induces  men  of  fallen  characters  to  endeavor 
to  retrieve  former  offences  by  the  shortest  and  most  reckless 
mode,  or  that  patriotism  which  shouts  "our  country  right  or 
wrong,"  regardless  alike  of  God  and  his  eternal  laws,  that  are 
never  to  be  forgotten  with  impunity ;  but  the  patriotism  which 
would  defend  his  home  and  fireside,  his  altars  and  the  graves 
of  his  fathers,  from  the  ruthless  steps  of  the  invader.  We  shall 
not  pretend  to  say  how  far  this  gentleman  entered  into  the 
merits  of  the  quarrel  between  the  two  republics,  which  no  arts 
of  European  jealousy  can  ever  conceal  from  the  judgment  of 
truth,  for,  with  him,  matters  had  gone  beyond  the  point  where 
men  feel  the  necessity  of  reasoning,  and  when,  perhaps,  if  such 
a  condition  of  the  mind  is  ever  to  be  defended,  he  found  his 
perfect  justification  in  feeling.  lie  had  travelled,  and  knew 
life  by  observation,  and  not  through  traditions  and  books.  He 
had  never  believed,  therefore,  that  his  countrymen  could  march 
to  Washington,  or  even  to  the  Sabine ;  but  he  had  hoped  for 
better  things  than  had  since  occurred.     The  warlike  qualities 


JACK     TIER.  327 

of  the  Americans  of  the  North,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  call 
those  who  term  themselves,  par  excellence,  Americans,  a  name 
they  are  fated  to  retain,  and  .to  raise  high  on  the  scale  of  na- 
tional power  and  national  pre-eminence,  unless  they  fall  b} 
their  own  hands,  had  taken  him  by  surprise,  as  they  have  taken 
all  but  those  who  knew  the  country  well,  and  who  understood 
its  people.  Little  had  he  imagined  that  the  small,  widely-spread 
body  of  regulars,  that  figured  in  the  blue  books,  almanacs,  and 
army-reg;sters  of  America,  as  some  six  or  seven  thousand  men, 
scattered  along  frontiers  of  a  thousand  leagues  in  extent,  could, 
at  the  beck  of  the  government,  swell  into  legions  of  invaders, 
men  able  to  carry  war  to  the  capitals  of  his  own  States,  thou- 
sands of  miles  from  their  own  doors,  and  formidable  alike  for 
their  energy,  their  bravery,  their  readiness  in  the  use  of  arms, 
and  their  numbers.  lie  saw  what  is  perhaps  justly  called  the 
boasting  of  the  American  character,  vindicated  by  their  ex- 
ploits ;  and  marches,  conquests,  and  victories  that,  if  sober  truth 
were  alone  to  cover  the  pages  of  history,  would  far  outdo  in 
real  labor  and  dauger  the  boasted  passage  of  the  Alps  under 
Napoleon,  and  the  exploits  that  succeeded  it, 

Don  Juan  Montefalderon  was  a  grave  and  thoughtful  man,  of 
pure  Iberian  blood.  lie  might  have  had  about  him  a  little  of 
the  exaltation  of  the  Spanish  character ;  the  overflowings  of  a 
generous  chivalry  at  the  bottom ;  and,  under  its  influence,  he 
may  have  set  too  high  an  estimate  on  Mexico  and  her  sons, 
but  he  was  not  one  to  shut  his  eyes  to  the  truth.  He  saw 
plainly  that  the  northern  neighbors  of  his  country  were  a  race 
formidable  and  enterprising,  and  that  of  all  the  calumnies  that 
.had  been  heaped  upon  them  by  rivalries  and  European  super- 
ciliousness, that  of  their  not  being  military  by  temperament 
was,  perhaps,  the  most  absurd  of  all.  On  the  contrary,  he  had 
himself,  though  anticipating  evil,  been  astounded  by  the  sud- 
denness and  magnitude  of  their  conquests,  which  in  a  few  short 
months  after  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  had  overrun  regions 
larger  in  extent  thau  many  ancient  empires.     All  this  had  been 


328  JACK     TIER. 

done,  too,  not  by  disorderly  and  barbarous  hordes,  seeking  in 
other  lands  the  abundance  that  was  wanting  at  home;  but  with 
svstem  and  regularity,  by  men  who  had  turned  the  ploughshare 
into  the  sword  for  the  occasion,  quitting  abundance  to  encounter 
fatigue,  famine,  and  danger.  In  a  word,  the  Seiior  Montefal- 
deron  saw  all  the  evils  that  environed  his  own  land,  and  fore- 
saw others,  of  a  still  graver  character,  that  menaced  the  future. 
On  matters  such  as  these  did  he  brood  in  his  walk,  and  bitter 
did  he  find  the  minutes  of  that  sad  and  lonely  watch.  Although 
a  Mexican,  he  could  feel ;  although  an  avowed  foe  of  this  good 
republic  of  ours,  he  had  his  principles,  his  affections,  and  his 
sense  of  right.  Whatever  may  be  the  merits  of  the  quarrel, 
and  we  are  not  disposed  to  deny  that  our  provocation  has  been 
great,  a  sense  of  right  should  teach  every  man  that  what  may 
be  patriotic  in  an  American,  Avould  not  be  exactly  the  same 
thing  in  a  Mexican,  and  that  we  ought  to  respect  in  others 
sentiments  that  are  so  much  vaunted  among  ourselves.  Mid- 
night at  length  arrived,  and,  calling  the  cook  and  steward,  the 
unhappy  gentleman  was  relieved,  and  went  to  his  berth  to 
dream,  in  sorrow,  over  the  same  pictures  of  national  misfortunes, 
on  which,  while  waking,  he  had  brooded  in  such  deep  melancholy. 

The  watch  of  Josh  and  Simon  was  tranquil,  meeting  with  no 
interruption  until  it  was  time  to  summon  Jack.  One  thing 
these  men  had  done,  however,  that  was  of  some  moment  to 
Tier,  under  a  pledge  given  by  Josh,  and  which  had  been  taken 
in  return  for  a  dollar  in  hand.  They  had  managed  to  haul  the 
lighthouse  boat  alongside,  from  its  position  astern,  and  this  so 
noiselessly  as  not  to  give  the  alarm  to  any  one.  There  it  lay, 
when  Jack  appeared,  ready  at  the  main-rigging,  to  receive  him 
at  any  moment  he  might  choose  to  enter  it. 

A  few  minutes  after  Jack  appeared  on  deck,  Rose  and  Biddy 
came  stealthily  out  of  the  cabin,  the  latter  carrying  a  basket 
filled  with  bread  and  broken  meat,  and  not  wanting  in  sundry 
little  delicacies,  such  as  woman's  hands  prepare,  and  in  this  in- 
stance, woman's  tenderness  had  provided.     The  whole  party 


JACK      TIER.  329 

met  at  the  galley,  a  place  so  far  removed  from  the  staterooms 
aft  as  to  be  out  of  ear-shot.  Here  Jack  renewed  his  endeavors 
to  persuade  either  Josh  or  Simon  to  go  in  the  boat,  but  with- 
out success.  The  negroes  had  talked  the  matter  over  in  their 
watch,  and  had  come  to  the  conclusion  the  enterprise  was  too 
hazardous. 

"  I  tell '  you,  Jack,  you  doesn't  know  Cap'in  Spike  as  well  as 
I  does,"  Josh  said,  in  continuance  of  the  discourse.  "No,  you 
doesn't  know  him  at  all  as  well  as  I  does.  If  he  finds  out  that 
anybody  has  quit  dis  brig  dis  werry  night,  woeful  will  come ! 
It  no  good  to  try  to  run ;  I  run  t'ree  time,  an'  Simon  here  run 
twice.  What  good  it  all  do  ?  We  got  cotched,  and  here  we 
is,  just  as  fast  as  ever.  I  knows  Cap'in  Spike,  and  doesn't  want 
to  fall  in  athwart  his  hawse  any  more." 

"  Y-e-s,  dat  my  judgment  too,"  put  in  the  cook.  "  We  wishes 
you  well,  Jack,  and  we  wishes  Miss  Rose  well,  and  Mr.  Mulford 
well,  but  we  can't,  no  how,  run  ath'art  hawTse,  as  Josh  says. 
Dat  is  my  judgment,  too." 

"Well,  if  your  minds  are  made  up  to  this,  my  darkies,  [ 
s'pose  there'll  be  no  changing  them,"  said  Jack.  "  At  all 
ewents,  you'll  lend  us  a  hand,  by  answering  any  hail  that  may 
come  from  aft,  in  my  watch,  and  in  keepin'  our  secret.  There's 
another  thing  you  can  do  for  us,  which  may  be  of  sarvice. 
Should  Captain  Spike  miss  the  boat,  and  lay  any  trap  to  catch 
us,  you  can  just  light  this  here  bit  of  lantern  and  hang  it  over 
the  brig's  bows,  where  he'll  not  be  likely  to  see  it,  that  we  may 
know  matters  are  going  wrong,  and  give  the  craft  a  wide  berth." 

"  Sartain,"  said  Josh,  who  entered  heartily  into  the  affair,  so 
far  as  good  wishes  for  its  success  were  concerned,  at  the  very 
moment  when  he  had  a  most  salutary  care  of  his  own  back. 
"  Sartain ;  we  do  all  dat,  and  no  t'ank  asked.  It  no  great 
matter  to  answer  a  hail,  or  to  light  a  lantern  and  sling  him 
over  the  bows ;  and  if  Captain  Spike  want  to  knowT  who  did  it, 
let  him  find  out." 

Here  both  negroes  laughed  heartily,  manifesting  so  little  care 


330  JACK     TIER. 

to  suppress  their  mirth,  that  Rose  trembled  lest  their  noise 
should  awaken  Spike.  Accustomed  sounds,  however,  --seldom 
produce  this  effect  on  the  ears  of  the  sleeper,  and  the  heavy 
breathing  from  the  stateroom  succeeded  the  merriment  of  the 
blacks,  as  soon  as  the  latter  ceased.  Jack  now  announced  his 
readiness  to  depart.  Some  little  care  and  management  were 
necessary  to  get  into  the  boat  noiselessly,  more  especially  with 
Biddy.  It  was  done,  however,  with  the  assistance  of  the  blacks, 
who  cast  off  the  painter,  when  Jack  gave  the  boat  a  shove  to 
clear  the  brig,  and  suffered  it  to  drift  astern  for  a  considerable 
distance  before  he  ventured  to  cast  loose  the  sail. 

"  I  know  Spike  well,"  said  Jack,  in  answer  to  a  remonstrance 
from  the  impatient  Rose  concerning  his  delay:  "a  single  flap 
of  that  canvas  would  wake  him  up,  with  the  brig  anchored, 
while  he  would  sleep  through  a  salute  of  heavy  guns  if  it  came 
in  regular  course.  Quick  ears  has  old  Stephen,  and  it's  best  to 
humor  them.  In  a  minute  more  we'll  set  our  canvas  and  be 
off." 

All  was  done  as  Jack  desired,  and  the  boat  got  away  from 
the  brig  unheard  and  undetected.  It  was  blowing  a  good 
breeze,  and  Jack  Tier  had  no  sooner  got  the  sail  on  the  boat, 
than  away  it  started  at  a  speed  that  Avould  have  soon  distanced 
Spike  in  his  yawl,  and  with  his  best  oarsmen.  The  main  point 
was  to  keep  the  course,  though  the  direction  of  the  wind  was 
a  great  assistant.  By  keeping  the  wind  abeam,  Jack  thought 
he  should  be  going  towards  the  rock  of  Mulford.  In  one  hour, 
or  even  in  less  time,  he  expected  to  reach  it,  and  he  was  guided 
by  time,  in  his  calculations,  as  much  as  by  any  other  criterion. 
Previously  to  quitting  the  brig,  he  had  gone  up  a  few  ratlins 
of  the  fore-rigging  to  take  the  bearings  of  the  fire  on  Mulford's 
rock,  but  the  light  was  no  longer  visible.  As  no  star  was  to 
be  seen,  the  course  was  a  little  vague,  but  Jack  was  navigator 
enough  to  understand  that  by  keeping  on  the  weather  side  of 
the  channel  he  was  in  the  right  road,  and  that  his  great  danger 
of  missing  his  object  was  in  overrunning  it. 


JACK     TIER.  331 

So  much  of  the  reef  was  above  water,  that  it  was  not  diffi- 
cult to  steer  a  boat  along  its  margin.  The  darkness,  to  be 
sure,  rendered  it  a  little  uncertain  how  near  they  were  running 
to  the  rocks,  but,  on  the  whole,  Jack  assured  Rose  he  had  no 
great  difficulty  in  getting  along. 

"  These  trades  are  almost  as  good  as  compasses,"  he  said, 
"  and  the  rocks  are  better,  if  we  can  keep  close  aboard  them 
without  going  on  to  them.  I  do  not  know  the  exact  distance 
of  the  spot  we  seek  from  the  brig,  but  I  judged  it  to  be  about 
two  leagues,  as  I  looked  at  it  from  aloft.  Now,  this  boat  will 
travel  them  two  leagues  in  an  hour,  with  this  breeze  and  in 
smooth  water." 

"  I  wish  you  had  seen  the  fire  again  before  we  left  the  brig," 
said  Rose,  too  anxious  for  the  result  not  to  feel  uneasiness  on 
some  account  or  other. 

"  The  mate  is  asleep,  and  the  fire  has  burned  down ;  that's 
the  explanation.  Besides,  fuel  is  not  too  plenty  on  a  place 
like  that  Mr.  Mulford  inhabits  just  now.  As  we  get  near  the 
spot,  I  shall  look  out  for  embers,  which  may  sarve  as  a  light- 
house, or  beacon,  to  guide  us  into  port." 

"  Mr.  Mulford  will  be  charmed  to  see  us,  now  that  we  take 
him  wather  !"  exclaimed  Biddy.  "  Wather  is  a  blessed  thing, 
and  it's  hard  will  be  the  heart  that  docs  not  fale  gratitude  for 
a  plenty  of  swate  wather." 

"  The  maty  has  plenty  of  food  and  water  where  he  is,"  said 
Jack.  "  I'll  answer  for  both  them  sarcamstauces.  I  saw  him 
turn  a  turtle  as  plain  as  if  I  had  been  at  his  elbow,  and  I  saw 
him  drinking  at  a  hole  in  the  rock,  as  heartily  as  a  boy  ever 
pulled  at  a  gimlet-hole  in  a  molasses  hogshead." 

"  But  the  distance  was  so  great,  Jack,  I  should  hardly  think 
you  could  have  distinguished  objects  so  small." 

"  I  went  by  the  motions  altogether.  I  saw  the  man,  and  I 
saw  the  movements,  and  I  knowed  what  the  last  meant.  It's 
true  I  couldn't  swear  to  the  turtle,  though  I  saw  something  ou 
the  rock  that  I  knowed,  by  the  way  in  which  it  was  handled, 


332  JACK     TIER. 

must  be  a  turtle.  Then  I  saw  the  mate  kneel,  and  put  his 
head  low,  and  then  I  knowed  he  was  drinking." 

"  Perhaps  he  prayed,"  said  Rose,  solemnly. 

"  Not  he.  Sailors  isn't  so  apt  to  pray,  Miss  Rose ;  not  as 
apt  as  they  ought  to  be.  Women  for  prayers,  and  men  for 
work.  Mr.  Mulford  is  no  worse  than  many  others,  but  I  doubt 
if  he  be  much  given  to  that." 

To  this  Rose  made  no  answer,  but  Biddy  took  the  matter 
up,  and,  as  the  boat  went  briskly  ahead,  she  pursued  the 
subject. 

"  Then  more  is  the  shame  for  him,"  said  the  Irish  woman  ; 
"  and  Miss  Rose,  and  Missus,  and  even  I  prayin'/or  him,  all  as 
if  he  was  our  own  brudder.  It's  seldom  I  ask  any  thing  for  a 
heretic,  but  I  could  not  forget  a  fine  young  man  like  Mr.  Mul- 
ford, and  Miss  Rose  so  partial  to  him,  and  he  in  so  bad  a  way. 
He  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  make  his  brags  that  he  is  too  proud 
to  pray." 

"  Ilarry  has  made  no  such  wicked  boast,"  put  in  Rose, 
mildly ;  "  nor  do  we  know  that  he  has  not  prayed  for  us,  as 
well  as  for  himself.  It  may  all  be  a  mistake  of  Jack's,  you 
know." 

"  Yes"  added  Jack,  coolly,  "  it  may  be  a  mistake,  a'ter  all, 
for  I  was  lookin'  at  the  maty  six  miles  off,  and  through  a  spy- 
glass. No  one  can  be  sure  of  any  thing  at  such  a  distance. 
So  overlook  the  matter,  my  good  Biddy,  and  carry  Mr.  Mulford 
the  nice  things  you've  mustered  in  that  basket,  all  the  same  as 
if  he  was  pope." 

"  This  is  a  subject  we  had  better  drop,"  Rose  quietly  ob- 
served. 

"  Any  thing  to  oblige  you,  Miss  Rose,  though  religion  is  a 
matter  it  would  do  me  no  harm  to  talk  about  once  and  awhile. 
It's  many  a  long  year  since  I've  had  time  and  opportunity  to 
bring  my  thoughts  to  dwell  on  holy  things.  Ever  since  I  left 
my  mother's  side,  I've  been  a  wanderer  in  my  mind,  as  much 
as  in  my  body." 


J  ACE      TIER.  333 

"Poor  Jack!  I  understand  and  feel  for  your  sufferings;  but 
a  better  time  will  come,  when  you  may  return  to  the  habits  of 
your  youth,  and  to  the  observances  of  your  Church." 

"  I  don't  know  that,  Miss  Rose  ;  I  don't  know  that,"  answei- 
cd  Tier,  placing  the  elbow  of  his  short  arm  on  the  seemingly 
shorter  leg,  and  bending  his  head  so  low  as  to  lean  his  face  on 
the  palm  of  the  hand,  an  attitude  in  which  he  appeared  to  be 
suffering  keenly  through  his  recollections.  "  Childhood  and 
innocence  never  come  back  to  us  in  this  world.  What  the 
grave  may  do,  we  shall  all  learn  in  time." 

"  Innocence  can  return  to  all  with  repentance,  Jack ;  and 
the  heart  that  prompts  you  to  do  acts  as  generous  as  this  you 
are  now  engaged  in,  must  contain  some  good  seed  yet." 

"If  Jack  will  go  to  a  praste  and  just  confess,  when  he  can 
find  a  father,  it  will  do  his  sowl  good,"  said  Biddy,  who  was 
touched  by  the  mental  suffering  of  the  strange  little  being  at 
her  side. 

But  the  necessity  of  managing  the  boat  soon  compelled  its 
coxswain  to  raise  his  head,  and  to  attend  to  his  duty.  The 
wind  sometimes  came  in  puffs,  and  at  such  moments  Jack  saw 
that  the  large  sail  of  the  lighthouse  boat  required  watching,  a 
circumstance  that  induced  him  to  shake  off  his  melancholy, 
and  give  his  mind  more  exclusively  to  the  business  before 
him. 

As  for  Rose,  she  sympathized  deeply  with  Jack  Tier,  for  she 
knew  his  history,  his  origin,  the  story  of  his  youth,  and  the 
well-grounded  causes  of  his  contrition  and  regrets.  From  her, 
Jack  had  concealed  nothing,  the  gentle  commiseration  of  one 
like  Rose  being  a  balm  to  wounds  that  had  bled  for  long  and 
bitter  years.  The  great  poet  of  our  language,  and  the  greatest 
that  ever  lived,  perhaps,  short  of  the  inspired  writers  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  old  Uomer  and  Dante,  has  well  reminded 
us  that  the  " little  beetle,"  in  yielding  its  breath,  can  "feel  a 
pang  as  great  as  when  a  giant  dies."  Thus  is  it,  too,  in  morals. 
Abasement,  and  misery,  and  poverty,  and  sin,  may,  and  all  do, 


334  JACK     TIER. 

contribute  to  lower  tbe  tone  of  our  moral  existence ;  but  the 
principle  that  has  been  planted  by  nature,  can  be  eradicated 
by  nature  only.  It  exists  as  long  as  we  exist ;  and  if  dormant 
for  a  time,  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  it  merely  lies,  in 
the  moral  system,  like  the  acorn,  or  the  chestnut,  in  the  ground, 
waiting  its  time  and  season  to  sprout,  and  bud,  and  blossom. 
Should  that  time  never  arrive,  it  is  not  because  the  seed  is 
not  there,  but  because  it  is  neglected.  Thus  was  it  with  the 
singular  being  of  whose  feelings  we  have  just  spoken.  The 
germ  of  goodness  had  been  implanted  early  in  him,  and  was 
nursed  with  tenderness  and  care,  until,  self-willed,  and  governed 
by  passion,  he  had  thrown  off  the  connections  of  youth  and 
childhood,  to  connect  himself  with  Spike — a  connection  that 
had  left  him  what  he  was.  Before  closing  our  legend,  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  explain  it. 

"  We  have  run  our  hour,  Miss  Rose,"  resumed  Jack,  break- 
ing a  continued  silence,  during  which  the  boat  had  passed 
through  a  long  line  of  water ;  "  we  have  run  our  hour,  and 
ought  to  be  near  the  rock  we  are  in  search  of.  But  the  morn- 
ing is  so  dark  that  I  fear  we  shall  have  difficulty  in  finding  it. 
It  will  never  do  to  run  past  it,  and  we  must  haul  closer  into 
the  reef,  and  shorten  sail,  that  we  may  be  sartain  to  make  no 
such  mistake." 

Rose  begged  her  companion  to  omit  no  precaution,  as  it 
would  be  dreadful  to  fail  in  their  search,  after  incurring  so 
much  risk  in  their  own  persons. 

"Harry  may  be  sleeping  on  the- sea-weed  of  which  you 
spoke,"  she  added,  "  and  the  clanger  of  passing  him  will  be 
much  increased  in  such  a  case.  What  a  gloomy  and  frightful 
spot  is  this,  in  which  to  abandon  a  human  being  !  I  fear,  Jack, 
that  we  have  come  faster  than  we  supposed,  and  may  already 
have  passed  the  rock." 

"  I  hope  not,  Miss  Rose — it  seemed  to  me  a  good  two  leagues 
to  the  place  where  I  saw  him,  and  the  boat  is  fast  that  will 
run  two  leagues  in  an  hour." 


JACK      T  I  E  II.  U3v 

"We  do  not  know  the  time,  Jack,  and  are  obliged  to  guess* 
at  that  as  well  as  at  the  distance.     How  very  dark  it  is  !" 

Dark,  in  one  sense,  it  was  not,  though  Kose's  apprehensions, 
doubtless,  induced  her  to  magnify  every  evil.  The  clouds  cer- 
tainly lessened  the  light  of  the  moon ;  but  there  was  still 
enough  of  the  last  to  enable  one  to  see  surrounding  objects ; 
and  most  especially  to  render  distinct  the  character  of  the  soli- 
tude that  reigned  over  the  place. 

The  proximity  of  the  reef,  which  formed  a  weather  shore 
to  the  boat,  prevented  any  thing  like  a  swell  on  the  water, 
notwithstanding  the  steadiness  and  strength  of  the  breeze,  which 
had  now  blown  for  near  twenty-four  hours.  The  same  wind, 
in  open  water,  would  have  raised  sea  enough  to  cause  a  ship 
to  pitch,  or  roll ;  whereas  the  lighthouse  boat,  placed  where 
she  was,  scarce  rose  and  fell  under  the  undulations  of  the  chan- 
nel through  which  she  was  glancing. 

"  This  is  a  good  boat,  and  a  fast  boat  too,"  observed  Jack 
Tier,  after  he  had  luffed  up  several  minutes,  in  order  to  make 
sure  of  his  proximity  to  the  reef ;  "  and  it  might  carry  us  all 
safe  enough  to  Key  West,  or  certainl/ back  to  the  Dry  Tortugas, 
was  we  inclined  to  try  our  hands  at  either." 

"  I  cannot  quit  my  aunt,"  said  Rose  quickly,  "  so  we  will  not 
even  think  of  any  such  thing." 

"  No,  'twould  never  do  to  abandon  the  missus,"  said  Biddy, 
"  and  she  on  the  wrack  wid  us,  and  falin'  the  want  of  wathcr 
as  much  as  ourselves." 

"  We  three  have  sartainly  gone  through  much  in  com- 
pany," returned  Jack,  "  and  it  ought  to  make  us  friends  for 
life." 

"  I  trust  it  will,  Jack ;  I  hope,  when  we  return  to  New  York, 
to  see  you  among  us,  anchored,  as  you  would  call  it,  for  the 
rest  of  your  days  under  my  aunt's  roof,  or  under  my  own,  should 
I  ever  have  one." 

"No,  Miss  Rose,  my  business  is  with  the  Swash  and  her  cap- 
tain.    I  shall  stick  by  both,  now  I've  found  'em  again,  until 


33G  JACK      TIER. 

•they  once  more  desart  me.  A  man's  duty  is  his  duty,  and  a 
woman's  duty  is  her  duty." 

"  You  same  to  like  the  brig  and  her  captain,  Jack  Tier,"  ob- 
served Biddy,  "  and  there's  no  use  in  gainsaying  such  a  likin'. 
What  will  come  to  pass,  must  come  to  pass.  Captain  Spike  is 
a  mighty  great  sailor,  anyway." 

"  He's  a  willian  !"  muttered  Jack. 

"  There !"  cried  Kose,  almost  breathless,  "  there  is  a  rock 
above  the  water,  surely.  Do  not  fly  by  it  so  swiftly,  Jack,  but 
let  us  stop  and  examine  it." 

i;  There  is  a  rock,  sure  enough,  and  a  large  piece  it  is,"  an- 
swered Tier.  "  We  will  go  alongside  of  it,  and  see  what  it  is 
made  of.  Biddy  shall  be  boat-keeper,  while  you  and  I,  Miss 
Kose,  explore." 

Jack  had  thrown  the  boat  into  the  wind,  and  was  shooting 
close  alongside  of  the  reef,  even  while  speaking.  The  party 
found  no  difficulty  in  lauding ;  the  margin  of  the  rock  admit- 
ting the  boat  to  lie  close  alongside  of  it,  and  its  surface  being 
even  and  dry.  Jack  had  brailed  the  sail,  and  he  brought  the 
painter  ashore,  and  fastened  it  securely  to  a  fragment  of  stone, 
that  made  a  very  sufficient  anchor.  In  addition  to  this  precau- 
tion, a  lazy  painter  was  put  into  Biddy's  hands,  and  she  was 
directed  not  to  let  go  of  it  while  her  companions  were  absent. 
These  arrangements  concluded,  Rose  and  Jack  commenced  a 
hurried  examination  of  the  spot. 

A  few  minutes  sufficed  to  give  our  adventurers  a  tolerably 
accurate  notion  of  the  general  features  of  the  place  on  which 
they  had  landed.  It  was  a  considerable  portion  of  the  reef  that 
was  usually  above  water,  and  which  had  even  some  fragments 
of  soil,  or  sand,  on  which  was  a  stinted  growth  of  bushes.  Of 
these  last,  however,  there  were  very  few,  nor  were  there  many 
spots  of  the  sand.  Drift-wood  and  sea-weed  were  lodged  in 
considerable  quantities  about  its  margin,  and,  in  places,  piles 
of  both  had  been  tossed  upon  the  rock  itself,  by  the  billows  of 
former  tmles  of  wind.     Nor  was  it  lono;  before  Jack  discovered 


JACK     TIER.  337 

a  turtle  that  had  been  up  to  a  hillock  of  sand,  probably  to  de- 
posit its  eggs.  There  was  enough  of  the  sportsman  in  Jack, 
notwithstanding  the  business  he  was  on,  to  turn  this  animal ; 
though  with  what  object,  he  might  have  been  puzzled  himself  to 
say.  This  exploit  effected,  Jack  followed  Rose  as  fast  as  his  short 
legs  would  permit,  our  heroine  pressing  forward  eagerly,  though 
almost  without  hope,  in  order  to  ascertain  if  Mulford  were  there. 

"  I  am  afraid  this  is  not  the  rock,"  said  Rose,  nearly  breath- 
less with  her  own  haste,  when  Jack  had  overtaken  her.  "  I  see 
nothing  of  him,  and  we  have  passed  over  most  of  the  place." 

"Very  true,  Miss  Rose,"  answered  her  companion,  who  was 
in  good-humor  on  account  of  his  capture  of  the  turtle  ;  "  but 
there  are  other  rocks  besides  this.  Ila !  what  was  that,  yon- 
der," pointing  with  a  finger,"  here,  more  towards  the  brig.  As 
I'm  a  sinner,  there  was  a  flashing,  as  of  fire." 

"  If  a  fire,  it  must  be  that  made  by  Harry.  Let  us  go  to  the 
spot  at  once." 

Jack  led  the  way,  and,  sure  enough,  he  soon  reached  a  place 
where  the  embers  of  what  had  been  a  considerable  body  of  fire, 
were  smouldering  on  the  rock.  The  wind  had  probably  caused 
some  brand  to  kindle  momentarily,  which  was  the  object  that 
had  caught  Tier's  eye.  No  doubt  any  longer  remained  of  their 
having  found  the  very  place  where  the  mate  had  cooked  his 
supper,  and  lighted  his  beacon,  though  he  himself  was  not 
near  it.  Around  these  embers  were  all  the  signs  of  Mulford's 
having  made  the  meal,  of  which  Jack  had  seen  the  prepara- 
tions. A  portion  of  the  turtle,  much  the  greater  part  of  it, 
indeed,  lay  in  its  shell ;  and  piles  of  wood  and  sea-weed,  both 
dry,  had  been  placed  at  hand,  ready  for  use.  A  ship's  topgal- 
lant-yard, with  most  of  its  rope  attached,  lay  with  a  charred 
end  near  the  fire,  or  where  the  fire  had  been,  the  wood  having 
burned  until  the  flames  went  out  for  want  of  contact  with  other 
fuel.  There  were  many  pieces  of  boards  of  pitch-pine  in  the 
adjacent  heap,  and  two  or  three  beautiful  planks  of  the  same 
wood,  entire.     In  short,  from  the  character  and  quantity  of  the 


338  J   1  C  K     TIER. 

materials  of  this  nature  that  had  thus  been  heaped  together. 
Jack  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  some  vessel,  freighted  with 
lumber,  had  been  wrecked  to  windward,  aud  that  the  adjacent 
rocks  had  been  receiving  the  tribute  of  her  cargo.  Wrecks 
are  of  very,  very  frequent  occurrence  on  the  Florida  Reef;  and 
there  are  always  moments  when  such  gleanings  are  to  be  made 
in  some  part  of  it  or  other. 

"  I  see  no  better  way  to  give  a  call  to  the  mate,  Miss  Rose, 
than  to  throw  some  of  this  dry  woed  and  some  of  this  lumber 
on  the  fire,"  said  Jack,  after  he  had  rummaged  about  the  place 
sufficiently  to  become  master  of  its  condition.  "  There  is 
plenty  of  ammunition,  and  here  goes  for  a  broadside." 

Jack  had  no  great  difficulty  in  effecting  his  object.  In  a 
few  minutes  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  flame,  and  then  he 
fed  it  with  such  fragments  of  the  brands  and  boards  as  were 
best  adapted  to  his  purpose.  The  flames  extended  gradually, 
and  by  the  time  Tier  had  dragged  the  topgallant-yard  over 
the  pile,  and  placed  several  planks,  on  their  edges,  alongside 
of  it,  the  whole  was  ready  to  burst  into  a  blrze.  The  light 
was  shed  athwart  the  rock  for  a  long  distance,  and  the  whole 
place,  Avhich  was  lately  so  gloomy  and  obscure,  now  became 
gay,  under  the  bright  radiance  of  a  blazing  fire. 

"  There  is  a  beacon-light  that  might  almost  be  seen  on 
board  !"  said  Jack,  exulting  in  his  success.  "  If  the  mate  is 
anywhere  in  this  latitude,  he  will  soon  turn  up." 

"  I  see  nothing  of  him,"  answered  Rose,  in  a  melanclwly 
voice.  "  Surely,  surely,  Jack,  he  cannot  hat  e  left  the  rock  just 
as  we  have  come  to  rescue  him  !" 

Rose  and  her  companion  had  turned  then-  faces  from  the 
fire  to  look  in  an  opposite  direction  in  quest  of  him  they  sought. 
Unseen  by  them,  a  human  form  advanced  swiftly  towards  the 
fire,  from  a  point  on  its  other  side.  It  advanced  nearer,  then 
hesitated,  afterwards  rushed  forward  with  a  tread  that  caused 
the  two  to  turn,  and  at  the  next  moment,  Rose  was  clasped  to 
the  heart  of  Mulford. 


JACK     TIER.  i)39 


CHAPTER    XI. 

"I  might  have  pass'd  that  lovely  cheek. 
Nor,  perchance,  my  heart  have  left  me; 
But  the  sensitive  blush  that  came  trembling  there, 
Of  my  heart  it  forever  bereft  me. 
Who  could  blame  had  I  loved  that  face, 
Ere  my  eyes  could  twice  explore  her; 
Yet  it  is  for  the  fairy  intelligence  there, 
And  her  warm,  warm  heart,  I  adore  her.'' 

Wolfe. 

The  stones  of  the  respective  parties  who  had  thus  so 
Btrangely  met  on  that  barren  and  isolated  rock,  were  soon  told. 
Harry  confirmed  all  of  Jack's  statements  as  to  his  own  pro- 
ceedings, and  Rose  had  little  more  to  say  than  to  add  how 
much  her  own  affections  had  led  her  to  risk  in  his  behalf.  In 
a  word,  ten  minutes  made  each  fully  acquainted  with  the 
other's  movements.  Then  Tier  considerately  retired  to  the 
boat,  under  the  pretence  of  minding  it,  and  seeing  every  thing 
ready  for  a  departure,  but  as  much  to  allow  the  lovers  the  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes  of  uninterrupted  discourse  that  they  now 
enjoyed,  as  for  any  other  reason. 

It  was  a  strange  scene  that  now  offered  on  the  rock.  By 
this  time  the  fire  was  burning  not  only  brightly,  but  fiercely, 
shedding  its  blight  light  far  and  near.  Under  its  most  brilliant 
rays  stood  Harry  and  Rose,  both  smiling  and  happy,  delighted 
in  their  meeting,  and,  for  the  moment,  forgetful  of  all  but  their 
present  felicity.  Never,  indeed,  had  Rose  appeared  more  lovely 
than  under  these  circumstances.  Her  face  was  radiant  with 
those  feelings  which  had  so  recently  changed  from  despair  to 
delight — a  condition  that  is  ever  most  propitious  to  beauty ; 
xnd  charms  that  always  appeared  feminine  and  soft,  now  seemed 


340  JACK     T  I  IS  it. 

elevated  to  a  bright  benignancy  that  might  best  be  likened  to 
our  fancied  images  of  anjjels.  The  mild,  beaming,  serene,  and 
intelligent  blue  eyes,  the  cheek  flushed  with  happiness,  the 
smiles  that  came  so  easily,  and  were  so  replete  with  tenderness, 
and  the  rich  hair,  deranged  by  the  breeze,  and  moistened  by 
the  air  of  the  sea,  each  and  all,  perhaps,  borrowed  some  ad- 
ditional lustre  from  the  peculiar  light  under  which  they  were 
exhibited.  As  for  Harry,  happiness  had  thrown  all  the  disad- 
vantages of  exposure,  want  of  dress,  and  a  face  that  had  not 
felt  the  razor  for  six-and-thirty  hours,  into  the  background. 
When  he  left  the  wreck,  he  had  cast  aside  his  cap  and  his  light 
summer  jacket,  in  order  that  they  might  not  encumber  him  in 
swimming,  but  both  had  been  recovered  when  he  returned  with 
the  boat  to  take  off  his  friends.  In  his  ordinary  sea  attire,  then, 
he  now  stood,  holding  Rose's  two  hands  in  front  of  the  fire,  every 
garment  clean  and  white  as  the  waters  of  the  ocean  could  make 
them,  but  all  betraying  some  of  the  signs  of  his  recent  trials. 
His  fine  countenance  was  full  of  the  love  he  bore  for  the  in- 
trepid and  devoted  girl  who  had  risked  so  much  in  his  behalf; 
and  a  painter  might  have  wished  to  preserve  the  expression  of 
ardent,  manly  admiration  which  glowed  in  his  face,  answering 
to  the  gentle  sympathy  and  womanly  tenderness  it  met  in  that 
of  Rose. 

The  background  of  this  picture  was  the  wide,  even  surface 
of  the  coral  reef,  with  its  exterior  setting  of  the  dark  and 
gloomy  sea.  On  the  side  of  the  channel,  however,  appeared 
the  boat,  already  winded,  with  Biddy  still  on  the  rock,  look- 
ing kindly  at  the  lovers  by  the  fire,  while  Jack  was  holding 
the  painter,  beginning  to  manifest  a  little  impatience  at  the 
delay. 

"They'll  stay  there  an  hour,  holding  each  other's  hands, 
and  looking  into  each  other's  faces,"  half  grumbled  the  little, 
rotund,  assistant-steward,  anxious  to  be  on  his  way  back  to 
the  brig,  "unless  a  body  gives 'em  a  call.  Captain  Spike  will 
he  in  no  very  good-humor  to  receive  you  and  me  on  board 


.1   A   C  K      T  IKK.  341 

ag'in,  if  lie  should  find  out  what  sort  of  a  trip  we've  been 
making  hereaway." 

"  Let  'em  alone — let  'em  alone,  Jacky,"  answered  the  good- 
natured  and  kind-hearted  Irish  woman.  "  It's  happy  they 
bees,  jist  now,  and  it  does  my  eyes  good  to  look  at  'em." 

"Ay,  they're  happy  enough,  now  ;  I  only  hope  it  may  last." 

"  Last !  what  should  help  its  lasting  ?  Miss  Rose  is  so  good, 
and  so  handsome — and  she's  a  fortin',  too ;  and  the  mate  so 
nice  a  young  man.  Think  of  the  likes  of  them,  Jack,  wantin' 
the  blessed  gift  of  wather,  and  all  within  one  day  and  two 
nights.  Sure  it's  Providence  that  takes  care  of,  and  not  we 
ourselves !  Kings  on  their  thrones  isn't  as  happy  as  them  at 
this  moment." 

" Men's  willians !"  growled  Jack;  "and  more  fools  women 
for  trustin'  'em." 

"  Not  sich  a  nice  young  man  as  our  mate,  Jacky ;  no,  not 
he.  Now  the  mate  of  the  ship  I  came  from  Liverpool  in,  this 
time  ten  years  agone,  he  wras  a  villain.  lie  grudged  us  our 
potaties,  and  our  own  bread ;  and  he  grudged  us  every  dhrap 
of  swate  wather  that  went  into  our  mouths.  Call  him  a  vil- 
lain, if  you  will,  Jack ;  but  niver  call  the  likes  of  Mr.  Mulford 
by  so  hard  a  name." 

"  I  wish  him  .well,  and  nothing  else ;  and  for  that  very  rea- 
son must  put  a  stop  to  his  looking  so  fondly  into  that  young 
woman's  face.  Time  won't  stand  still,  Biddy,  to  suit  the  wishes 
of  lovers ;  and  Stephen  Spike  is  a  man  not  to  be  trifled  with. 
Ilalloo,  there,  maty  !  It's  high  time  to  think  of  getting  under 
way." 

At  this  summons  both  Ilarry  and  Rose  started,  becoming 
aware  of  the  precious  moments  they  were  losing.  Carrying  a 
large  portion  of  the  turtle,  the  former  moved  towards  the 
craft,  in  which  all  were  seated  in  less  than  three  minutes,  with 
the  sail  loose,  and  the  boat  in  motion.  For  a.  few  moments 
the  mate  wTas  so  much  occupied  with  Rose,  that  he  did  not 
advert  to  the  course ;  but  one  of  his  experience  could  not  long 


342  JACK     TIER. 

be  misled  on  such  a  point,  and  he  turned  suddenly  to  Tier 
who  was  steering,  tc  remonstrate. 

"  How's  this,  Jack !"  cried  Mulford ;  "  you've  got  the  boat's 
head  the  wrong  way." 

"  Not  I,  sir.  She's  heading  for  the  brig  as  straight  as  she 
can  go.  This  wind  favors  us  on  both  legs ;  and  it's  lucky  it 
does,  for  'twill  be  hard  on  upon  daylight  afore  we  are  along- 
side of  her.  You'll  want  half  an  hour  of  dark,  at  the  very 
least,  to  get  a  good  start  of  the  Swash,  in  case  she  makes  sail 
a'ter  you." 

"Straight  for  the  brig! — what  have  we  to  do  with  the  brig? 
Our  course  is  for  Key  West,  unless  it  might  be  better  to  run 
down  before  the  wind  to  the  Dry  Tortugas  again,  and  look  for 
the  sloop-of-war.  Duty,  and  perhaps  my  own  safety,  tells  me 
to  let  Captain  Mull  know  what  Spike  is  about  with  the  Swash; 
and  I  shall  not  hesitate  a  moment  about  doing  it,  after  all  that 
has  passed.  Give  me  the  helm,  Jack,  and  let  us  ware  short 
round  on  our  heel." 

"  Never,  master  maty — never.  I  must  go  back  to  the  brig. 
Miss  Rose,  there,  knows  that  my  business  is  with  Stephen 
Spike,  and  with  him  only." 

"  And  I  must  return  to  my  aunt,  Harry,"  put  in  Rose,  her- 
self.    "  It  would  never  do  for  me  to  desert  my  aunt,  you  know." 

"And  I  have  been  taken  from  that  rock,  to  be  given  up  to 
the  tender  mercies  of  Spike  again  ?" 

This  was  said  rather  in  surprise,  than  in  a  complaining  way; 
and  it  at  once  induced  Rose  to  tell  the  young  man  the  whole 
of  their  project. 

"Never,  Harry,  never,"  she  said  firmly.  "It  is  our  intention 
to  return  to  the  brig  ourselves,  and  let  you  escape  in  the  boat 
afterwards.  Jack  Tier  is  of  opinion  this  can  be  done  without 
much  risk,  if  we  use  proper  caution  and  do  not  lose  too  much 
time.  On  no  account  would  I  consent  to  place  you  in  the 
bands  of  Spike  again — death  would  be  preferable  to  that, 
Harry !" 


JACK     TIER.  34J 

"  And  on  no  account  can  or  will  I  consent  to  place  you 
again  in  the  hands  of  Spike,  Rose,"  answered  the  young  man. 
"  Now  that  we  know  his  intentions,  such  an  act  would  be 
almost  impious." 

"Remember  my  aunt,  dear  Harry.  What  would  be  her 
situation  in  the  morning,  when  she  found  herself  deserted  by 
her  niece  and  Biddy — by  me,  whom  she  has  nursed  and  watch- 
ed from  childhood,  and  whom  she  loves  so  well  V 

"  I  shall  not  deny  your  obligations  to  your  aunt,  Rose,  and 
your  duty  to  her  under  ordinary  circumstances.  But  these 
are  not  ordinary  circumstances ;  and  it  would  be  courting  the 
direst  misfortunes,  nay,  almost  braving  Providence,  to  place 
yourself  in  the  hands  of  that  scoundrel  again,  now  that  you 
are  clear  of  them." 

"  Spike's  a  willian  !"  muttered  Jack. 

"And  my  desartin'  the  missus  would  be  a  sin  that  no  praste 
would  overlook  aisily,"  put  in  Biddy.  "When  Miss  Rose  told 
me  of  this  v'y'ge  that  she  meant  to  make  in  the  boat  wid  Jack 
Tier,  I  asked  to  come  along,  that  I  might  take  care  of  her,  and 
see  that  there  was  plenty  of  wather;  but  ill-luck  befall  me  if  I 
would  have  t' ought  of  sich  a  thing,  and  the  missus  desartecl." 

"  We  can  then  run  alongside  of  the  brig,  and  put  Biddy  and 
Jack  on  board  of  her,"  said  Mulford,  reflecting  a  moment  on 
what  had  just  been  said,  "when  you  and  I  can  make  the  best 
of  our  way  to  Key  West,  where  the  means  of  sending  govern- 
ment vessels  out  after  the  Swash  will  soon  offer.  In  this  way 
we  can  not  only  get  our  friends  out  of  the  lion's  jaws,  but  keep 
out  of  them  ourselves." 

"  Reflect  a  moment,  Harry,"  said  Rose  in  a  low  voice,  but 
not  without  tenderness  in  its  tones ;  "  it  would  not  do  for  me 
to  go  ofi  alone  with  you  in  this  boat." 

"  Not  when  you  have  confessed  your  willingness  to  go 
»ver  the  wide  world  with  me,  Rose — with  me,  and  with  me 
only?" 

"  Not  even  then,  Harry.     I  know  you  will  think  better  of 


344  JACK     TIER. 

this,  when  your  generous  nature  has  time  to  reasou  with  your 
heart,  on  my  account." 

"  I  can  only  answer  in  your  own  words,  Eose — never.  If 
you  return  to  the  Swash,  I  shall  go  on  board  with  you,  and 
throw  defiance  into  the  very  teeth  of  Spike.  I  know  the  men 
do  not  dislike  me,  and,  perhaps,  assisted  by  Sefior  Montefakle- 
ron,  and  a  few  friends  among  the  people,  I  can  muster  a  force 
that  will  prevent  my  being  thrown  into  the  sea." 

Rose  burst  into  tears,  and  then  succeeded  many  minutes, 
during  which  Mulford  was  endeavoring,  with  manly  tender- 
ness, to  soothe  her.  As  soon  as  our  heroine  recovered  her 
self-command,  she  began  to  discuss  the  matter  at  issue  between 
them  more  coolly.  For  half  an  hour  every  thing  was  urged 
by  each  that  feeling,  affection,  delicacy,  or  distrust  of  Spike 
could  well  uige,  and  Mulford  was  slowly  getting  the  best  of  the 
argumeinyas  well  he  might,  the  truth  being  mostly  on  his  side. 
Rose  was  bewildered,  really  feeling  a  strong  reluctance  to  quit 
her  aunt,  even  with  so  justifiable  a  motive,  but  principally 
shrinking  from  the  appearance  of  going  off  alone  in  a  boat, 
and  almost  in  the  open  sea,  with  Mulford.  Had  she  loved 
Ilarry  less,  her  scruples  might  not  have  been  so  active,  but 
the  consciousness  of  the  strength  of  her  attachment,  as  well  as 
her  fixed  intention  to  become  his  Wife  the  moment  it  Avas  in 
her  power  to  give  him  her  hand  with  the  decencies  of  her  sex, 
contributed  strangely  to  prevent  her  yielding  to  the  young 
man's  reasoning.  On  the  subject  of  the  aunt,  the  mate  made 
out  so  good  a  case,  that  it  was  apparent  to  all  in  the  boat 
Rose  would  have  to  abandon  that  ground  of  refusal.  Spike 
had  no  object  to  gain  by  ill-treating  Mrs.  Budd ;  and  the 
probability  certainly  was  that  he  would  get  rid  of  her  as  soon 
as  he  could,  and  in  the  most  easy  manner.  This  was  so  ap- 
parent to  all,  that  Harry  had  little  difficulty  in  getting  Rose  to 
assent  to  its  probability.  But  there  remained  the  reluctance 
to  go  off  alone  with  the  mate  in  a  boat.  This  part  of  the  sub- 
ject was  more  difficult  to  manage  than  the  other ;  and  Mul 


JACK     TIER.  345 

ford  betrayed  as  much  by  the  awkwardness  with  which  he 
managed  it.  At  length  the  discussion  was  brought  to  a  close 
by  Jack  Tier  suddenly  saying — 

"  Yonder  is  the  brig ;  and  we  are  heading  -for  her  as  straight 
as  if  she  was  the  pole,  and  the  keel  of  this  boat  was  a  compass. 
I  sec  how  it  is,  Miss  Rose,  and  a'ter  all,  I  must  give  in.  I  sup- 
pose some  other  opportunity  will  offer  for  me  to  get  on  board 
of  the  brig  ag'in,  and  I'll  trust  to  that.  If  you  won't  go  off 
with  the  mate  alone,  I  suppose  you'll  not  refuse  to  go  off  in 
my  company." 

"  Will  you  accompany  us,  Jack  ?  This  is  more  than  I  had 
hoped  for !  Yes,  Ilarry,  if  Jack  Tier  will  be  of  the  party,  I 
will  trust  my  aunt  to  Biddy,  and  go  with  you  to  Key  West,  in 
order  to  escape  from  Spike." 

This  was  said  so  rapidly,  and  so  unexpectedly,  as  to  take 
Mulford  completely  by  surprise.  Scarce  believmg  what  he 
heard,  the  young  man  was  disposed,  at  first,  to  feel  hurt,  though 
a  moment's  reflection  showed  him  that  he  ought  to  rejoice  in 
the  result,  let  the  cause  be  what  it  might. 

"More  than  I  had  hoped  for!"  he  could  not  refrain  from 
repeating,  a  little  bitterly  ;  "  is  Jack  Tier,  then,  of  so  much 
importance,  that  his  company  is  thought  preferable  to  mine !" 

"  Ilush,  Ilarry !"  said  Rose,  laying  her  hand  on  Mulford's 
arm,  by  way  of  strengthening  her  appeal.  "Do  not  say  that. 
You  are  ignorant  of  circumstances ;  at  another  time  you  shall 
know  them,  but  not  now.  Let  it  be  enough  for  the  present, 
that  I  promise  to  accompany  you  if  Jack  will  be  of  our 
party." 

"  Ay,  ay,  Miss  Rose,  I  will  be  of  the  party,  seeing  there  is 
no  other  way  of  getting  the  lamb  out  of  the  jaws  of  the  wolf. 
A'ter  all,  it  may  be  the  wisest  thing  I  can  do,  though  back  to 
the  Swash  I  must  and  will  come,  powder  or  no  powder,  trea 
son  or  no  treason,  at  the  first  opportunity.  Yes,  my  business 
is  with  the  Molly,  and  to  the  Molly  I  shall  return.  It's  lucky, 
Miss  Rose,  since  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to  ship  for  this 


346  JACK     TIEI1, 

new  cruise,  that  I  bethought  me  of  telling  Biddy  to  make  up 
a  bundle  of  duds  for  you.  This  earpet-bag  has  a  change  or 
two  in  it,  and  all  owing  to  my  forethought.  Your  woman 
said,  'Miss  Rose  will  come  back  wid  us,  Jack,  and  what's  the 
use  of  rumplin'  the  clothes  for  a  few  hours'  sail  in  the  boat;' 
but  I  knew  womankind  better,  and  foreseed  that  if  master 
mate  fell  in  alongside  of  you  ag'in,  you  would  not  be  apt  to 
part  company  very  soon." 

"I  thank  you,  Jack,  for  the  provision  made  for  my  comfort; 
though  some  money  would  have  added  to  it  materially.  My 
purse  has  a  little  gold  in  it,  but  a  very  little,  and  I  fear  you 
are  not  much  better  off,  Harry.  It  will  be  awkward  to  find 
ourselves  in  Key  West  penniless." 

"We  shall  not  be  quite  that.  I  left  the  brig  absolutely 
without  a  cent,  but  foreseeing  that  necessity  might  make  them 
of  use,  I  borrowed  half  a  dozen  of  the  doubloons  from  the  bag 
of  Senor  Montefalderon,  and  fortunately,  they  are  still  in  my 
pocket.  All  I  am  worth  in  the  world  is  in  a  bag  of  half- 
eagles,  rather  more  than  a  hundred  altogether,  which  I  left  in 
my  chest,  in  my  own  stateroom  aboard  the  brig." 

"You'll  find  that  in  the  carpet-bag,  too,  master  mate,"  said 
Jack,  coolly. 

"  Find  what,  man — not  my  money,  surely  ?" 

"Ay,  every  piece  of  it.  Spike  broke  into  your  chest  this 
a'tcrnoon,  and  made  me  hold  the  tools  while  he  was  doing  it. 
He  found  the  bag,  and  overhauled  it — a  hundred  and  seven 
half,  eleven  quarter,  and  one  full-grown  eagle,  was  the  count. 
When  he  had  done  the  job,  he  put  all  back  ag'in,  a'ter  giving 
me  the  full-grown  eagle  for  my  share  of  the  plunder,  and  told 
me  to  say  nothing  of  what  I  had  seen.  I  did  say  nothing,  but 
I  did  a  good  bit  of  work,  for,  while  he  was  at  supper,  I  con- 
federated that  bag,  as  they  call  it — and  you  will  find  it  there 
among  Miss  Rose's  clothes,  with  the  full-grown  gentleman  back 
in  his  nest  ag'in." 

"  This  is  being  not  only  honest,  Tier,"  cried  Mulford,  hearti- 


JACK     TIER.  347 

ly,  "but  thoughtful.  One  half  that  money  shall  be  yours  for 
this  act." 

"  I  thank'e,  sir ;  but  I'll  not  touch  a  cent  of  it.  It  came 
hard,  I  know,  Mr.  Mulford;  for  my  own  hands  have  smaited 
too  much  with  tar,  not  to  know  that  the  seaman  '  earns  his 
money  like  the  horse.'  " 

"  Still  it  would  not  be  '  spending  it  like  an  ass,'  Jack,  to  give 
you  a  portion  of  mine.  But  there  will  be  other  opportunities 
to  talk  of  this.  It  is  a  sign  of  returning  to  the  concerns  of 
life,  Rose,  that  money  begins  to  be  of  interest  to  us.  How 
little  did  we  think  of  the  doubloons,  or  half-eagles,  a  few  hours 
since,  Avhen  on  the  wreck !" 

"It  was  wather  that  we  t'ought  of  then,"  put  in  Biddy. 
"  Goold  is  good  in  a  market,  or  in  a  town,  or  to  send  back  to 
Ireland,  to  help  a  body's  aged  fader  or  mudder  in  comfort  wid; 
but  wather  is  the  blessed  thing  on  a  wrack !" 

"  The  brig  is  coming  quite  plainly  into  view,  and  you  had 
better  give  me  the  helm,  Jack.  It  is  time  to  bethink  us  of  the 
manner  of  approaching  her,  and  how  we  are  to  proceed  when 
alongside." 

This  was  so  obviously  true,  that  everybody  felt  disposed  to 
forget  all  other  matters,  in  order  to  conduct  the  proceedings 
of  the  next  twenty  minutes  with  the  necessary  prudence  and 
caution.  When  Mulford  first  took  the  helm,  the  brig  was  just 
coming  clearly  into  view,  though  still  looking  a  little  misty 
and  distant.  She  might  then  have  been  half  a  league  distant, 
and  woul'd  not  have  been  visible  at  all  by  that  light,  but  for 
the  circumstance  that  she  had  no  background  to  swallow  up 
her  outlines.  Drawn  against  clouds,  above  which  the  rays  of 
the  moon  were  shed,  her  tracery  was  to  be  discerned,  however, 
and,  minute  by  minute,  it  was  getting  to  be  more  and  more 
distinct,  until  it  was  now  so  plainly  to  be  seen  as  to  admonish 
the  mate  of  the  necessity  of  preparation  in  the  manner  men- 
tioned. 

Tier  now  communicated  to  the  mate  his  own  proposed  man- 


34S  JACK      TIEK. 

.ier  of  proceeding.  The  brig  tended  to  the  trades,  the  tides 
having  very  little  influence  on  her,  in  the  bight  of  the  reef 
where  she  lay.  As  the  wind  stood  at  about  east-southeast, 
the  brig's  stern  pointed  to  about  west-northwest,  Avhile  the 
boat  was  coming  down  the  passage  from  a  direction  nearly 
north  from  her,  having,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  wind  just 
free  enough  to  lay  her  course.  Jack's  plan  was  to  pass  the 
brig  to  windward,  and  having  got  well  on  her  bow,  to  brail 
the  sail,  and  drift  down  upon  her,  expecting  to  fall  in  along- 
side, abreast  of  the  fore-chains,  into  which  he  had  intended  to 
help  Biddy,  and  to  ascend  himself,  when  he  supposed  that 
Mulford  would  again  make  sail,  and  carry  off  his  mistress. 
To  this  scheme  the  mate  objected  that  it  was  awkward,  and  a 
little  lubberly.  lie  substituted  one  in  its  place  that  differed  in 
seamanship,  and  which  was  altogether  better.  Instead  of  pass- 
ing to  windward,  Mulford  suggested  the  expediency  of  ap- 
proaching to  leeward,  and  of  coming  alongside  under  the  open 
howport,  letting  the  sheet  fly  and  brailing  the  sail,  when  the 
boat  should  be  near  enough  to  carry  her  to  the  point  of  desti- 
nation without  further  assistance  from  her  canvas. 

Jack  Tier  took  his  officer's  improvement  on  his  own  plan  in 
perfect  good  part,  readily  and  cheerfully  expressing  his  will- 
ingness to  aid  the  execution  of  it  all  that  lay  in  his  power.  As 
the  boat  sailed  unusually  well,  there  was.  barely  time  to  explain 
to  each  individual  his  or  her  part  in  the  approaching  critical 
movements,  ere  the  crisis  itself  drew  near ;  then  each  of  the 
party  became  silent  and  anxious,  and  events  were  regarded 
rather  than  words. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  Mulford  sailed  a  boat 
well.  He  held  the  sheet  in  his  hand,  as  the  little  craft  came 
up  under  the  lee-quarter  of  the  brig,  Avhile  Jack  stood  by  the 
brail.  The  eyes  of  the  mate  glanced  over  the  hull  of  the  ves- 
sel to  ascertain,  if  possible,  who  might  be  stirring ;  but  not  a 
sign  of  life  could  he  detect  on  board  her.  This  very  silence 
made   Mulford  more   distrustful  and  anxious,  for  he  feared  a 


JACK     TIER.  349 

trap  was  set  for  him.  He  expected  to  see  tlie  head  of  one  of 
the  blacks  at  least  peering  over  the  bulwarks,  but  nothing  like 
a  man  was  visible.  It  was  too  late  to  pause,  however,  and  the 
sheet  was  slowly  eased  off,  Jack  hauling  on  the  brail  at  the 
same  time ;  the  object  being  to  prevent  the  sail's  flapping,  and 
the  sound  reaching  the  ears  of  Spike.  As  Mulford  used  great 
caution,  and  had  previously  schooled  Jack  on  the  subject,  this 
important  point  was  successfully  achieved.  Then  the  mate 
put  his  helm  down,  and  the  boat  shot  up  under  the  brig's  lee- 
bow.  Jack  was  ready  to  lay  hold  of  one  of  the  bowsprit 
shrouds,  and  presently  the  boat  was  breasted  np  under  the 
desired  port,  and  secured  in  that  position.  Mulford  quitted 
the  stern-sheets,  and  cast  a  look  in  upon  deck.  Nothing  was 
to  be  seen,  though  he  heard  the  heavy  breathing  of  the  blacks, 
both  of  whom  were  sound  asleep  on  a  sail  that  they  had  spread 
on  the  forecastle. 

The  mate  whispered  for  Biddy  to  come  to  the  port.  This 
the  Irishwoman  did  at  once,  having  kissed  Rose,  aud  taken  her 
leave  of  her  previously.  Tier  also  came  to  the  port,  through 
which  he  passed,  getting  on  deck  with  a  view  to  assist  Biddy, 
who  was  awkward,  almost  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  pass  through 
the  same  opening.  lie  had  just  succeeded,  when  the  wdiole 
party  was  startled,  some  of  them  almost  petrified,  indeed,  by  a 
hail  from  the  quarter-deck,  in  the  well-known,  deep  tones  of 
Spike 

"  For'ard,  there  ?"  hailed  the  captain.  Receiving  no  answer, 
he  immediately  repeated,  in  a  shortor,  quicker  call,  "  Forecastle, 
there  5" 

"  Sir,"  answered  Jack  Tier,  who  by  this  time  had  come  to 
his  senses. 

"  Who  has  the  look-out  on  that  forecastle  ?" 

"  I  have  it,  sir — I,  Jack  Tier.  You  know,  sir,  I  was  to  have 
it  from  two  'till  daylight." 

"  Ay,  ay,  I  remember  now.  How  does  the  brig  ride  to  her 
anchor  ?" 


350  JACK     TIER. 

"As  steady  as  a  church,  sir.  She's  had  no  more  sheer  the 
whole  watch  than  if  she  was  moored  head  and  a+ern." 

"  Does  the  wind  stand  as  it  did  ?" 

"  No  change,  sir.     As  dead  a  trade-wind  as  ever  bio  wed." 

"  What  hard  breathing  is  that  I  hear  for'ard  ?" 

"  'Tis  the  two  niggers,  sir.  They've  turned  in  on  deck,  and 
are  napping  it  off  at  the  rate  of  six  knots.  There's  no  keepin' 
way  with  a  nigger  in  snorin'." 

"I  thought  I  heard  loud  whispering,  too,  but  I  suppose  it 
was  a  sort  of  half  dream.  I'm  often  in  that  way,  now-a-days. 
Jack!" 

"  Sir." 

"  Go  to  the  scuttle-butt  and  get  me  a  pot  of  fresh  water — ■ 
ray  coppers  are  hot  with  hard  thinking." 

Jack  did  as  ordered,  and  soon  stood  beneath  the  coach-house 
deck  with  Spike,  who  had  come  out  of  his  stateroom,  heated 
and  uneasy  at  he  knew  not  what.  The  captain  drank  a  full 
pint  of  water  at  a  single  draught. 

"  That's  refreshing,"  he  said,  returning  Jack  the  tin-pot, 
"  and  I  feel  the  cooler  for  it.  llow  much  does  it  want  of  day- 
light, Jack  ?" 

"  Two  hours,  I  think,  sir.  The  order  was  passed  to  me  to 
have  all  hands  called  as  soon  as  it  was  broad  day." 

"  Ay,  that  is  right.  We  must  get  our  anchor  and  be  off  as 
soon  as  there  is  light  to  do  it  in.  Doubloons  may  melt  as  well 
as  flour,  and  are  best  cared  for  soon,  when  cared  for  at  all." 

"  I  shall  see  and  give  the  call  as  soon  as  it  is  day.  I  hope, 
Captain  Spike,  I  can  take  the  liberty  of  an  old  shipmate,  how- 
ever, and  say  one  thing  to  you,  which  is  this — look  out  for 
the  Poughkeepsie,  which  is  very  likely  to  be  on  your  heels 
when  you  least  expect  her." 

"  That's  your  way  of  thinking,  is  it,  Jack  ?  Well,  I  thank 
you,  old  one,  for  the  hint,  but  have  little  fear  of  that  craft. 
We've  had  our  legs  together,  and  I  think  the  brig  has  the 
longest." 


JACK     TIER.  33  i 

As  the  captain  said  this,  he  gaped  like  a  hound,  and  went 
into  his  stateroom.  Jack  lingered  on  the  quarter-deck,  wait- 
ing to  hear  him  fairly  in  his  berth,  when  he  made  a  sign  to 
Biddy,  who  had  got  as  far  aft  as  the  galley,  where  she  was 
secreted,  to  pass  down  into  the  cabin  as  silently  as  possible. 
In  a  minute  or  two  more,  he  moved  forward,  singing  in  a  low, 
cracked  voice,  as  was  often  his  practice,  and  slowly  made  his 
way  to  the  forecastle.  Mulford  was  just  beginning  to  think 
the  fellow  had  changed  his  mind,  and  meant  to  stick  by  the 
brig,  when  the  little,  rotund  figure  of  the  assistant-steward  was 
seen  passing  through  the  port,  and  to  drop  noiselessly  on  a 
thwart.  Jack  then  moved  to  the  bow,  and  cast  off  the  painter, 
the  head  of  the  boat  slowly  falling  off  under  the  pressure  of 
the  breeze  on  that  part  of  her  mast  and  sail  which  rose  above 
the  hull  of  the  Swash.  Almost  at  the  same  moment  the  mate 
let  go  the  stern-fast,  and  the  boat  was  free. 

It  required  some  care  to  set  the  sail  without  the  canvas 
flapping.  It  was  done,  however,  before  the  boat  fairly  took 
the  breeze,  when  all  was  safe.  In  half  a  minute  the  wind 
struck  the  sail,  and  away  the  little  craft  started,  passing  swiftly 
ahead  of  the  brig.  Soon  as  far  enough  off,  Mulford  put  up 
his  helm  and  wore  short  round,  bringing  the  boat's  head  to 
the  northward,  or  in  its  proper  direction ;  after  which  they 
flew  along  before  the  wind,  which  seemed  to  be  increasing  in 
force,  with  a  velocity  that  really  appeared  to  defy  pursuit.  All 
this  time  the  brig  lay  in  its. silence  and  solitude,  no  one  stirring 
on  board  her,  and  all,  in  fact,  Biddy  alone  excepted,  profoundly 
ignorant  of  what  had  just  been  passing  alongside  of  her.  Ten 
minutes  of  running  off  with  a  flowing  sheet,  caused  the  Swash 
to  look  indistinct  and  hazy  again  ;  in  ten  minutes  more  she  was 
swallowed  up,  hull,  spars,  and  all,  in  the  gloom  of  night. 

Mulford  and  Rose  now  felt  something  like  that  security, 
without  the  sense  of  which,  happiness  itself  is  but  an  uneasy 
feeling,  rendering  the  anticipations  of  evil  the  more  painful  by 
the  magnitude  of  the  stake.    There  they  sat,  now,  in  the  stern- 


352  JACK     TIER. 

sheets  by  themselves,  Jack  Tier  having  placed  himself  near  the 
bows  of  the  boat,  to  look  out  for  rocks,  as  well  as  to  trim  the 
craft.  It  was  not  long  before  Rose  was  leaning  on  Harry's 
shoulder,  and  ere  an  hour  was  past,  she  had  fallen  into  a  sweet 
sleep  in  that  attitude,  the  young  man  having  carefully  covered 
her  person  with  a  capacious  shawl,  the  same  that  had  been  used 
on  the  wreck.  As  for  Jack,  he  maintained  his  post  in  silence, 
sitting  with  his  arms  crossed,  and  the  hands  thrust  into  the 
breast  of  his  jacket,  sailor  fashion,  a  picture  of  nautical  vigi- 
lance. It  was  some  time  after  Rose  had  fallen  asleep,  that  this 
singular  being  spoke  for  the  first  time. 

"  Keep  her  away  a  bit,  maty,"  he  said,  "  keep  her  away, 
half  a  point  or  so.  She's  been  travellin'  like  a  racer  since  we 
left  the  brig ;  and  yonder's  the  first  streak  of  day." 

"  By  the  time  we  have  been  running,"  observed  Mulford, 
"  I  should  think  we  must  be  getting  near  the  northern  side 
of  the  reef." 

"  All  of  that,  sir,  depend  on  it.  Here's  a  rock  close  aboard 
on  us,  to  which  we're  comin'  fast — just  off  here,  on  our  weather 
bow,  that  looks  to  me  like  the  place  where  you  landed  a'ter 
that  swim,  and  where  we  had  stowed  ourselves  when  Stephen 
Spike  made  us  out,  and  gave  chase." 

"  It  is  surprising  to  me,  Jack,  that  you  should  have  any  fancy 
to  stick  by  a  man  of  Spike's  character.  He  is  a  precious' ras- 
cal, as  we  all  can  see,  now,  and  you  are  rather  an  honest  sort 
of  fellow." 

"  Do  you  love  the  young  woman  there,  that's  lying  in  your 
arms,  as  it  might  be,  and  whom  you  say  you  wish  to  marry  ?" 

"  The  question  is  a  queer  one,  but  it  is  easily  answered. 
More  than  my  life,  Jack." 

"  Well,  how  happens  it  that  you  succeed,  when  the  world  has 
so  many  other  young  men  who  might  please  her  as  well  as 
yourself?" 

"  It  may  be  that  no  other  loves  her  as  well,  and  she  has  had 
the  sagacity  to  discover  it." 


JACK      TIER.  35S 

"  Quito  likely.  So  it  is  with  me  and  Stephen  Spike.  I 
fancy  a  man  whom  other  folk  despise  and  condemn.  Why 
I  stand  by  him  is  my  own  secret;  but  stand  by  him  I  do  and 
will." 

"  This  is  all  very  strange,  after  your  conduct  on  the  island, 
and  your  conduct  to-night.  I  shall  not  disturb  your  secret, 
however,  Jack,  but  leave  you  to  enjoy  it  by  yourself.  Is  this 
the  rock  of  which  you  spoke,  that  we  are  now  passing  ?" 

"  The  same ;  and  there's  the  spot  in  which  we  was  stowed 
when  they  made  us  out  from  the  brig ;  and  hereaway,  a  cable's 
length,  more  or  less,  the  wreck  of  that  Mexican  craft  must  lie." 

"  What  is  that  rising  above  the  water,  thereaway,  Jack ;  more 
on  our  weather  beam  ?" 

"  I  see  what  you  mean,  sir  ;  it  looks  like  a  spar.  By  George  ! 
there's  two  on  'em ;  and  they  do  seem  to  be  the  schooner's 
masts." 

Sure  enough  !  a  second  look  satisfied  Mulford  that  two  mast- 
heads were  out  of  water,  and  that  within  a  hundred  yards  of 
the  place  the  boat  was  running  past.  Standing  on  a  short  dis- 
tance, or  far  enough  to  give  himself  room,  the  mate  put  his 
helm  down,  and  tacked  the  boat.  The  flapping  of  the  sail,  and 
the  little  movement  of  shifting  over  the  sheet,  awoke  Rose,  who 
was  immediately  apprised  of  the  discovery.  As  soon  as  round, 
the  boat  went  glancing  up  to  the  spars,  and  presently  was  rid- 
ing by  one,  Jack  Tier  having  caught  hold  of  a  topmast-shroud, 
when  Mulford  let  fly  his  sheet  again,  and  luffed  short  up  to  the 
sjiot.  By  this  time  the  increasing  light  was  sufficiently  strong 
to  render  objects  distinct,  wrhen  near  by,  and  no  doubt  remained 
any  longer  in  the  mind  of  Mulford  about  the  two  mast-heads 
being  those  of  the  unfortunate  Mexican  schooner. 

"  Well,  of  all  I  have  ever  soon,  I've  never  see'd  the  like  of 
this  afore  !"  exclaimed  Jack.  "  When  we  left  this  here  craft, 
sir,  you'll  remember,  she  had  almost  turned  turtle,  laying  over 
so  far  as  to  bring  her  upper  coamings  under  water  ;  now  she 
stands  right  side  up,  as  erect  as  if  docked  !     My  navigation 


364  JACK     TIER. 

c-an't  get  along  with  this,  Mr.  Mulford,  and  it  does  seem  like 
witchcraft." 

"  It  is  certainly  a  very  singular  incident,  Jack,  and  I  have 
been  trying  to  come  at  its  causes." 

"Have  you  succeeded,  Harry?"  asked  Rose,  by  this  time 
wide  awake,  and  wondering  like  the  others. 

"  It  must  have  happened  in  this  wise.  The  wreck  was  aban- 
doned by  us  some  little  distance  out  here,  to  windward.  The 
schooner's  masts,  of  course,  pointed  to  leeward,  and  when  she 
drifted  in  here,  they  have  first  touched  on  a  shelving  rock,  and 
as  they  have  been  shoved  up,  little  by  little,  they  have  acted 
as  levers  to  right  the  hull,  until  the  cargo  has  shifted  back 
into  its  proper  berth,  which  has  suddenly  set  the  vessel  up 
again." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  Jack,  "  all  that  might  have  happened 
had  she  been  above  water,  or  any  part  of  her  above  water ;  but 
you'll  remember,  maty,  that  soon  after  we  left  her  she  went 
down." 

"  Not  entirely.  The  wreck  settled  in  the  water  no  faster 
after  we  had  left  it,  than  it  had  done  before.  It  continued  to 
sink,  inch  by  inch,  as  the  air  escaped,  and  no  faster  after  it  had 
gone  eiitirely  out  of  sight  than  before ;  not  as  fast,  indeed,  as 
the  water  became  denser  the  lower  it  got.  The  great  argu- 
ment against  my  theory,  is  the  fact,  that  after  the  hull  got  be- 
neath the  surface,  the  wind  could  not  act  on  it.  This  is  true 
iu  one  sense,  and  not  in  another.  The  waves,  or  the  pressure 
of  the  water  produced  by  the  wind,  might  act  on  the  hull  for 
some  time  after  we  ceased  to  see  it.  But  the  currents  have  set 
the  craft  in  here,  and  the  hull  floating  always,  very  little  force 
would  cant  the  craft.  If  the  rock  were  shelving  and  slippery, 
I  see  no  great  difficulty  in  the  way ;  and  the  barrels  may  have 
been  so  lodged,  that  a  trifle  would  set  them  rolling  back  again, 
each  one  helping  to  produce  a  change  that  would  move  an- 
other. As  for  the  ballast,  that,  I  am  certain,  could  not  shift. 
for  it  was  stowed  with  great  care.     As  the  vessel  righted,  the 


JACK     TIER.  355 

au  still  in  her  moved,  and  as  soon  as  tlte  water  permitted,  it 
escaped  by  the  hatches,  when  the  craft  went  down,  as  a  matter 
of  course.  This  air  may  have  aided  in  bringing  the  hull  up- 
right by  its  movements  in  the  water." 

This  was  the  only  explanation  to  which  the  ingenuity  of 
Mulford  could  help  him,  under  the  circumstances,  and  it  may 
have  been  the  right  one,  or  not.  There  lay  the  schooner,  how- 
ever, in  some  five  or  six  fathoms  of  water,  with  her  two  top- 
masts and  lower  mast-heads  out  of  the  element,  as  upright  as 
if  docked !  It  may  all  have  occurred  as  the  mate  fancied,  or 
the  unusual  incident  may  have  been  owing  to  some  of  the 
many  mysterious  causes  which  baffle  inquiry,  when  the  agents 
are  necessarily  hidden  from  examination. 

"  Spike  intends  to  come  and  look  for  this  wreck,  you  tell 
me,  Jack,  in  the  hope  of  getting  at  the  doubloons  it  contains  ?" 
said  Mulford,  when  the  boat  had  lain  a  minute  or  two  longer, 
riding  by  the  mast-head. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir ;  that's  his  notion,  sir,  and  he'll  be  in  a  great 
stew,  as  soon  as  he  turns  out,  which  must  be  about  this  time, 
and  finds  me  missing ;  for  I  was  to  pilot  him  to  the  spot." 

"  He'll  want  no  pilot  now.  It  will  be  scarcely  possible  to 
pass  anywhere  near  this  and  not  see  these  spars.  But  this 
discovery  almost  induces  me  to  change  my  own  plans.  What 
say  you,  Rose  ?  We  have  now  reached  the  northern  side  of 
the  reef,  when  it  is  time  to  haul  close  by  the  wind,  if  we  wish 
to  beat  up  to  Key  West.  There  is  a  moral  certainty,  however, 
that  the  sloop-of-war  is  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Dry  Tortugas,  which  are  much  the  most  easily  reached, 
being  to  leeward.  We  might  run  down  to  the  lighthouse  by 
midday,  while  it  is  doubtful  if  we  could  reach  the  town  until 
to-morrow  morning.  I  should  like  exceedingly  to  have  five 
minutes'  conversation  with  the  commander  of  the  Toughkecp- 
sie." 

"Ay,  to  let  him  know  where  he  will  be  likely  to  fall  in  with 
the  Molly  Swash  and  her  traitor  master,  Stephen  Spike,"  cried 


350  JACK     TIER. 

Tier.  "  Never  mind,  maty ;  let  'em  come  on  ;  both  the  Molly 
and  her  master  have  got  long  legs  and  clean  heels.  Stephen 
Spike  will  show  'em  how  to  thread  the  channels  of  a  reef." 

"It  is  amazing  to  me,  Jack,  that  you  should  stand  by  your 
old  captain  in  feeling,  while  you  are  helping  to  thwart  him,  all 
you  can,  in  his  warmest  wishes." 

"  lie's  a  willian  !"  muttered  Jack — "  a  reg'lar  willian  is  Ste- 
phen Spike !" 

"  If  a  villain,  why  do  you  so  evidently  wish  to  keep  him  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  law  ?  Let  him  be  captured  and  punished, 
as  his  crimes  require." 

"  Men's  willians,  all  round,"  still  muttered  Jack.  "  JJark'e, 
Mr.  Mulford,  I've  sailed  in  the  brig  longer  than  you,  and 
know'd  her  in  her  comeliest  and  best  days — when  she  was 
young,  and  blooming,  and  lovely  to  the  eye,  as  the  young  crea- 
ture at  your  side — and  it  would  go  to  my  heart  to  have  any 
thiug  happen  her.  Then,  I've  know'd  Stephen  a  long  time,  too, 
and  old  shipmates  get  a  feelin'  for  each  other,  sooner  or  later. 
I  tell  you  now,  honestly,  Mr.  Mulford,  Captain  Adam  Mull  shall 
never  make  a  prisoner  of  Stephen  Spike,  if  I  can  prevent  it." 

The  mate  laughed  at  this  sally,  but  Rose  appeared  anxious 
to  change  the  conversation,  and  she  managed  to  open  a  dis- 
cussion on  the  course  it  might  be  best  to  steer.  Mulford  had 
several  excellent  reasons  to  urge  for  wishing  to  run  down  to 
the  islet,  all  of  which,  with  a  single  exception,  he  laid  before 
his  betrothed.  The  concealed  reason  was  one  of  the  strongest 
of  them  all,  as  usually  happens  when  there  is  a  reason  to  con- 
ceal, but  of  that  he  took  care  to  say  nothing.  The  result  was 
an  acquiescence  on  the  part  of  Rose,  whose  consent  was  yielded 
more  to  the  influence  of  one  particular  consideration  than  to 
all  the  rest  united.  That  one  was  this  :  Harry  had  pointed 
out  to  her  the  importance  to  himself  of  his  appearing  early 
to  denounce  the  character  and  movements  of  the  brig,  lest, 
through  his  former  situation  in  her,  his  own  conduct  might  be 
seriously  called  in  question. 


JACK      TIER.  351 

As  soon  as  the  matter  was  determined,  Jack  was  told  to  let 
go  his  hold,  the  sheet  was  drawn  aft,  and  away  sped  the  boat. 
No  sooner  did  Mulford  cause  the  little  craft  to  keep  away,  than 
it  almost  flew,  as  if  conscious  it  were  bound  to  its  proper  home, 
skimming  swiftly  over  the  waves,  like  a  bird  returning  eagerly 
to  its  nest.  An  hour  later,  the  party  breakfasted.  While  at 
this  meal,  Jack  Tier  pointed  out  to  the  mate  a  white  speck  in 
the  southeastern  board,  which  he  took  to  be  the  brig  coming 
through  the  passage,  on  her  way  to  the  wreck. 

"  No  matter,"  returned  the  mate.  "  Though  we  can  see  her, 
she  cannot  see  us.  There  is  that  much  advantage  in  our  being 
small,  Rose,  if  it  do  prevent  our  taking  exercise  by  walking  the 
deck." 

Soon  after,  Mulford  made  a  very  distant  sail  in  the  north- 
western board,  which  he  hoped  might  turn  out  to  "be  the 
Poughkeepsie.  It  was  but  another  speck,  but  its  position  was 
somewhat  like  that  in  which  he  had  expected  to  meet  the 
sloop-of-war.  The  two  vessels  were  so  far  apart  that  one  could 
not  be  seen  from  the  other,  and  there  was  little  hope  that  the 
Poughkeepsie  would  detect  Spike  at  his  toil  on  the  wreck ;  but 
the  mate  fully  expected  that  the  ship  would  go  into  the  an- 
chorage, among  the  islets,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  had  be- 
come of  the  schooner.  If  she  did  not  go  in  herself,  she  would 
be  almost  certain  to  send  in  a  boat. 

The  party  from  the  brigantine  had  run  down  before  the 
wind  more  than  two  hours  before  the  lighthouse  began  to 
show  itself,  just  rising  out  of  the  waves.  This  gave  them  the 
advantage  of  a  beacon,  Mulford  having  steered  hitherto  alto- 
gether by  the  sun,  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  the  trending 
of  the  reef.  Now  he  had  his  port  in  sight,  it  being  his  inten- 
tion to  take  possession  of  the  dwelling  of  the  lighthouse 
keeper,  and  to  remain  in  it,  until  a  favorable  opportunity  oc- 
curred to  remove  Rose  to  Key  West.  The  young  man  had 
also  another  important  project  in  view,  which  it  will  be  in  sea- 
ion  to  mention  as  it  reaches  the  moment  of  its  fulfilment. 


358  JACK     TIER. 

The  rate  of  sailing  of  the  lighthouse  boat,  running  before  a 
brisk  trade  wind,  could  not  be  much  less  than  nine  miles  in  the 
hour.  About  eleven  o'clock,  therefore,  the  lively  craft  shot 
through  one  of  the  narrow  channels  of  the  islets,  and  entered 
the  haven.  In  a  few  minutes  all  three  of  the  adventurers  were 
on  the  little  wharf  where  the  lighthouse  people  were  in  the 
habit  of  landing.  Rose  proceeded  to  the  house,  while  Harry 
and  Jack  remained  to  secure  the  boat.  For  the  latter  purpose 
a  sort  of  slip,  or  little  dock,  had  been  made,  and  when  the  boat 
was  hauled  into  it,  it  lay  so  snug  that  not  only  was  the  craft 
secure  from  injury,  but  it  was  actually  hid  from  the  view  of  all 
but  those  who  stood  directly  above  it. 

"  This  is  a  snug  berth  for  the  boat,  Jack,"  observed  the  mate, 
when  he  had  hauled  it  into  the  place  mentioned,  "and  by  un- 
stepping  the  mast,  a  passer-by  would  not  suspect  such  a  craft 
of  lying  in  it.  Who  knows  what  occasion  there  may  be  for 
concealment  ?   and  I'll  e'en  do  that  thing." 

To  a  casual  listener,  Harry,  in  unstepping  the  mast,  might 
have  seemed  influenced  merely  by  a  motiveless  impulse  ;  but,  in 
truth,  a  latent  suspicion  of  Jack's  intentions  instigated  him ; 
and  as  he  laid  the  mast,  sprit,  and  sail  on  the  thwarts,  he  de- 
termined, in  his  own  mind,  to  remove  them  all  to  some  other 
place,  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  for  doing  so  unobserved  should 
occur.     He  and  Jack  now  followed  Rose  to  the  house. 

The  islets  were  found  deserted  and  tenantless.  Not  a  human 
being  had  entered  the  house  since  Rose  left  it,  the  evening 
she  had  remained  so  long  ashore,  in  company  with  her  aunt 
and  the  Senor  Montefalderon.  This  our  heroine  knew  from 
the  circumstance  of  finding  a  slight  fastening  of  the  outer  door 
in  the  precise  situation  in  which  she  had  left  it  with  her  own 
hands.  At  first  a  feeling  of  oppression  and  awe  prevailed 
with  both  Harry  and  Rose,  when  they  recollected  the  fate  of 
those  who  had  so  lately  been  tenants  of  the  place ;  but  this 
gradually  wore  off,  and  each  soon  got  to  be  more  at  home.  As 
for  Jack,  he  very  coolly  rummaged  the  lockers,   as  he   called 


JACK     TIER.  359 

the  drawers  and  closets  of  the  place,  and  made  his  prepara- 
tions for  cooking  a  very  delicious  repast,  in  which  callipash 
and  callipee  were  to  he  material  ingredients.  The  necessary 
condiments  were  easily  enough  found  in  that  place,  turtle  being 
a  common  dish  there,  and  it  was  not  long  before  steams  that 
might  have  quickened  the  appetite  of  an  alderman  filled  the 
kitchen.  Rose  rummaged,  too,  and  found  a  clean  table-cloth, 
plates,  glasses,  bowls,  spoons,  and  knives ;  in  a  word,  all  that 
was  necessary  to  spread  a  plain  but  plentiful  board.  "While 
all  this  was  doing,  Harry  took  some  fishing-tackle,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  a  favorable  spot  among  the  rocks.  In  twenty  min- 
utes he  returned  with  a  fine  mess  of  that  most  delicious  little 
fish  that  goes  by  the  very  unpoetical  name  of  "  hog-fish," 
from  the  circumstance  of  its  giving  a  grunt  not  unlike  that  of 
a  living  porker,  when  rudely  drawn  from  its  proper  element. 
Nothing  was  now  wanting  to  not  only  a  comfortable,  but  to 
what  was  really  a  most  epicurean  meal ;  and  Jack  just  begged 
the  lovers  to  have  patience  for  an  hour  or  so,  when  he  promised 
them  dishes  that  even  New  York  could  not  furnish. 

Harry  and  Rose  first  retired  to  pay  a  little  attention  to  their 
dress,  and  then  they  joined  each  other  in  a  walk.  The  mate 
had  found  some  razors,  and  was  clean  shaved.  JJe  had  also 
sequestered  a  shirt,  and  made  some  other  little  additions  to  his 
attire,  that  contributed  to  give  him  the  appearance  of  being, 
that  which  he  really  was,  a  very  gentlemanlike-looking  young 
sailor.  Rose  had  felt  no  necessity  for  taking  liberties  with  the 
effects  of  others,  though  a  good  deal  of  female  attire  was 
found  in  the  dwelling.  As  was  afterwards  ascertained,  a  family 
ordinarily  dwelt  there,  but  most  of  it  had  gone  to  Key  West, 
on  a  visit,  at  the  moment  when  the  man  and  boy  left  in  charge 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Mexicans,  losing  their  lives  in 
the  manner  mentioned. 

While  walking  together,  Harry  opened  his  mind  to  Rose  on 
the  subject  which  lav  nearest  to  his  heart,  and  which  had  been 
at  the  bottom  of  this  second  visit  to  the  islets  of  the  Dry  Tor- 


300  JACK     TIER. 

tugas.  During  the  different  visits  of  "Wallace  to  the  brig,  the 
boat's  crew  of  the  Poughkeepsie  had  held  more  or  less  discourse 
with  the  people  of  the  Swash.  This  usually  happens  on  such 
occasions ;  and  although  Spike  had  endeavored  to  prevent  it 
when  his  brig  lay  in  this  bay,  he  had  not  been  entirely  suc- 
cessful. Such  discourse  is  commonly  jocular,  and  sometimes 
witty ;  every  speech,  coming  from  which  side  it  may,  ordinarily 
commencing  with  "  shipmate,"  though  the  interlocutors  never 
saw  each  other  before  that  interview.  In  one  of  the  visits  an 
allusion  was  made  to  cargo,  when  "the  pretty  gal  aft"  was 
mentioned  as  being  a  part  of  the  cargo  of  the  Swash.  In  an- 
swer to  this  remark,  the  wit  of  the  Poughkeepsie  had  told  the 
brig's  man,  "you  had  better  send  her  on  board  us,  for  we  carry 
a  chaplain,  a  regular-built  one,  that  ivill  be  a  bishoj)  some  day 
or  other,  perhaps,  and  we  can  get  her  spliced  to  one  of  our 
young  officers."  This  remark  had  induced  the  sailor  of  the 
Molly  to  ask  if  a  sloop-of-war  really  carried  such  a  piece  of 
marine  luxury  as  a  chaplain,  and  the  explanation  given  went 
to  say  that  the  clergyman  in  question  did  not  properly  belong 
to  the  Poughkeepsie,  but  was  to  be  put  on  board  a  frigate,  as 
soon  as  they  fell  in  with  one  that  he  named.  Now,  all  this 
Mulford  overheard,  and  he  remembered  it  at  a  moment  when 
it  might  be  of  use.  Situated  as  he  and  Rose  were,  he  felt  the 
wisdom  and  propriety  of  their  being  united,  and  his  present 
object  was  to  persuade  his  companion  to  be  of  the  same  way 
of  thinking.  lie  doubted  not  that  the  sloop-of-war  would 
come  in,  ere  long,  perhaps  that  very  day,  and  he  believed  it, 
would  be  an  easy  matter  to  induce  her  chaplain  to  perform 
the  ceremony.  America  is  a  country  in  which  every  facility 
exists,  with  the  fewest  possible  impediments,  to  getting  mar- 
ried ;  and,  we  regret  to  be  compelled  to  add,  to  getting  un- 
married also.  There  are  no  bans,  no  licenses,  no  consent  of 
parents  even,  usually  necessary,  and  persons  who  are  of  the 
age  of  discretion,  which,  as  respects  females  and  matrimony, 
Is  a  very  tender  age  indeed,  may  be  married,  if  they  see  fit, 


JACK     TIE  K.  301 

almost  without  form  or  ceremony.  There  existed,  therefore, 
no  legal  impediment  to  the  course  Mulford  desired  to  take ; 
and  his  principal,  if  not  his  only  difficulty,  would  be  with 
Rose.  Over  her  scruples  he  hoped  to  prevail,  and  not  without 
reason,  as  the  case  he  could  and  did  present,  was  certainly 
one  of  a  character  that  entitled  him  to  be  heard  with  great 
attention. 

In  the  first  place,  Mrs.  Budd  had  approved  of  the  connec- 
tion, and  it  wTas  understood  between  them,  that  the  young 
people  wTere  to  be  united  at  the  first  port  in  which  a  clergyman 
of  their  own  persuasion  could  be  found,  and  previously  to 
reaching  home.  This  had  been  the  aunt's  own  project ;  for, 
weak  and  silly  as  she  was,  the  relict  had  a  woman's  sense  of 
the  proprieties.  It  had  occurred  to  her  that  it  wrould  be  more 
respectable  to  make  the  long  journey  which  lay  before  them 
escorted  by  a  nephew  and  husband,  than  escorted  by  even  an 
accepted  lover.  It  is  true  that  she  had  never  anticipated  a 
marriage  in  a  lighthouse,  and  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
Rose  was  now  placed,  though  it  might  be  more  reputable  that 
her  niece  should  quit  the  islets  as  the  wife  of  Harry,  than  as 
his  betrothed.  Then  Mulford  still  apprehended  Spike.  In 
that  remote  part  of  the  world,  almost  beyond  the  confines  of 
society,  it  was  not  easy  to  foretell  what  claims  he  might  set 
up,  in  the  event  of  his  meeting  them  there.  Armed  with  the 
authority  of  a  husband,  Mulford  could  resist  him,  in  any  such 
case,  with  far  better  prospects  of  success  than  if  he  should 
appear  only  in  the  character  of  a"  suitor. 

Rose  listened  to  these  arguments,  ardently  and  somewhat 
eloquently  put,  as  a  girl  of  her  years  and  habits  would  be  apt 
to  listen  to  a  favored  lover.  She  was  much  too  sincere  to  deny 
her  own  attachment,  wdiich  the  events  of  the  last  few  days  had 
increased  almost  to  intenseness,  so  apt  is  our  tenderness  to 
augment  in  behalf  of  those  for  whom  we  feel  solicitude ;  and 
her  judgment  told  her  that  the  more  sober  part  of  Harry's 
reasoning  was  entitled  to  consideration.    As  his  wife,  her  situa- 

16 


362  JACK     TIER. 

tion  Avould  certainly  be  much  less  equivocal  aud  awkward  than 
while  she  bore  a  different  name,  and  was  admitted  to  be  a 
single  woman ;  and  it  might  yet  be  weeks  before  the  duty  she 
owed  her  aunt  would  allow  her  to  proceed  to  the  north.  But, 
after  all,  Harry  prevailed  more  through  the  influence  of  his 
hold  on  Rose's  affections,  as  would  have  been  the  case  with 
almost  every  other  woman,  than  through  any  force  of  reason- 
ing, lie  truly  loved,  and  that  made  him  eloquent  when  he 
spoke  of  love ;  sympathy  in  all  he  uttered  being  his  great  ally. 
When  summoned  to  the  house  by  the  call  of  Jack,  who  an- 
nounced that  the  turtle-soup  was  ready,  they  returned  with 
the  understanding  that  the  chaplain  of  the  roughkeepsie 
should  unite  them,  did  the  vessel  come  in,  and  would  the  func- 
tionary mentioned  consent  to  perform  the  ceremony. 

"  It  would  be  awkward — nay,  it  would  be  distressing,  Harry, 
to  have  him  refuse,"  said  the  blushing  Rose,  as  they  walked 
slowly  back  to  the  house,  more  desirous  to  prolong  their  con- 
versation than  to  partake  of  the  bountiful  provision  of  Jack 
Tier.  The  latter  could  not  but  be  acceptable,  neveitheloss,  to 
a  young  man  like  Mulford,  who  was  in  robust  health,  and  who 
had  fared  so  badly  for  the  last  eight-and-forty  hours.  AVhen 
he  sat  down  to  the  table,  therefore,  which  was  covered  by  a 
snow-white  cloth,  with  smoking  and  most  savory  viands  on  it, 
it  will  not  be  surprising  if  we  say  it  was  with  a  pleasure  that 
was  derived  from  one  of  the  great  necessities  of  our  nature. 

Sancho  calls  for  benedictions  "  on  the  man  who  invented 
sleep."  It  would  have  been  more  just  to  have  asked  this  boon 
in  behalf  of  him  who  invented  eating  and  turtle-soup.  The 
wearied  fall  into  sleep,  as  it  might  be,  unwittingly ;  sometimes 
against  their  will,  and  often  against  their  interests ;  while 
many  a  man  is  hungry  without  possessing  the  means  of  ap- 
peasing his  appetite.  Still  more  daily  feel  hunger  without 
possessing  turtle-soup.  Certain  persons  impute  this  delicious 
compound  to  the  genius  of  some  London  alderman,  but  we 
rather  think  unjustly.    Aldermanic  genius  is  easily  excited  and 


JACK     TIER.  3G3 

rendered  active,  no  doubt,  by  strong  appeals  on  such  a  theme, 
but  our  own  experience  inclines  us  to  believe  that  the  tropics 
usually  send  their  inventions  to  the  less  fruitful  regions  of  the 
earth  along  with  their  products.  We  have  little  doubt,  could 
the  fact  be  now  ascertained,  that  it  would  be  found  turtle-soup 
was  originally  invented  by  just  some  such  worthy  as  Jack  Tier, 
who,  in  rilling  his  coppers  to  tickle  the  captain's  appetite,  had 
used  all  the  condiments  within  his  reach  ;  ventured  on  a  sort 
of  Regent's  punch  ;  and,  as  the  consequence,  had  brought  f<  >rtla 
the  dish  so  often  eulogized,  and  so  well  beloved.  It  is  a  little 
extraordinary  that  in  Paris,  the  seat  of  gastronomy,  one  rarely, 
if  ever,  hears  of  or  sees  this  dish  ;  while  in  London  it  is  to  be 
met  in  almost  as  great  abundance  as  in  one  of  our  larger  com- 
mercial towns.  But  so  it  is,  and  we  cannot  say  we  much  envy 
a  cuisine  its  pates,  and  soufjlets,  and  its  a  la  this  and  a  la  thats, 
but  which  was  never  redolent  with  the  odors  of  turtle-soup. 

"  Upon  my  word,  Jack,  you  have  made  out  famously  with 
your  dinner,  or  supper,  whichsoever  you  may  please  to  call  it," 
cried  Mulford  gayly,  as  he  took  his  seat  at  the  table,  after  hav- 
ing furnished  Rose  with  a  chair.  "  Nothing  appears  to  be 
wanting  ;  but  here  is  good  pilot  bread,  potatoes  even,  and  other 
little  niceties,  in  addition  to  the  turtle  and  the  fish.  These  good 
people  of  the  light  seem  to  have  lived  comfortably,  at  any  rate." 

"  Why  should  they  not,  maty  ?"  answered  Jack,  beginning 
to  help  to  soup.  "  Living  on  one  of  these  islets  is  like  living 
afloat.  Every  thing  is  laid  in,  as  for  an  outward-bound  craft ; 
then  the  reef  must  always  furnish  fish  and  turtle.  I've  over- 
hauled the  lockers  pretty  thoroughly,  and  find  a  plenty  of 
stores  to  last  us  a  month.  Tea,  sugar,  coffee,  bread,  pickles, 
potatoes,  onions,  and  all  other  knick-knacks." 

"The  poor  people  who  own  these  stores  will  be  heavy- 
hearted  enough  when  they  come  to  learn  the  reason  why  we 
have  been  put  in  undisturbed  possession  of  their  property," 
said  Rose.  "  We  must  contrive  some  means  of  repaying  them 
for  such  articles  as  we  may  use,  Harry." 


364  JACK     TIER. 

"  That's  easily  enough  done,  Miss  Rose.  Drop  one  of  the 
half-eagles  in  a  teapot,  or  a  mug,  and  they'll  be  certain  to  fall 
in  with  it  when  they  come  back.  Nothin'  is  easier  than  to  pay 
a  body's  debts,  when  a  body  has  the  will  and  the  means.  Now, 
the  worst  enemy  of  Stephen  Spike  must  own  that  his  brig 
never  quits  port  with  unsettled  bills.  Stephen  has  his  faults, 
like  other  mortals ;  but  he  has  his  good  p'ints,  too." 

"  Still  praising  Spike,  my  good  Jack,"  cried  the  mate,  a  little 
provoked  at  this  pertinacity  in  the  deputy-steward,  in  sticking 
to  his  ship  and  his  shipmate.  "  I  should  have  thought  that 
you  had  sailed  with  him  long  enough  to  have  found  him  out, 
and  to  wish  never  to  put  your  foot  in  his  cabin  again." 

"  Why,  no,  maty,  a  craft  is  a  craft,  and  a  body  gets  to  like 
even  the  faults  of  one  in  which  a  body  has  gone  through  gales 
and  squalls,  with  a  whole  skin.  I  like  the  Swash,  and,  for  sar- 
tain  things,  I  like  her  captain." 

"  Meaning  by  that,  it  is  your  intention  to  get  on  board  of  the 
one,  and  to  sail  with  the  other,  again,  as  soon  as  you  can." 

"  I  do,  Mr.  Mulford,  and  make  no  bones  in  telling  on't.  You 
know  that  I  came  here  without  wishing  it." 

"  Well,  Jack,  no  one  will  attempt  to  control  your  move- 
ments, but  you  shall  be  left  your  own  master.  I  feel  it  to  be 
a  duty,  however,  as  one  who  may  know  more  of  the  law  than 
yourself,  as  well  as  more  of  Stephen  Spike,  to  tell  you  that  he 
is  engaged  in  a  treasonable  commerce  with  the  enemy,  and 
that  he,  and  all  who  voluntarily  remain  with  him,  knowing  this 
fact,  may  be  made  to  swing  for  it." 

"  Then  I'll  swing  for  it,"  returned  Jack,  sullenly. 

"  There  is  a  little  obstinacy  in  this,  m}T  good  fellow,  and  you 
must  be  reasoned  out  of  it.  1  am  under  infinite  obligations  to 
you,  Jack,  and  shall  ever  be  ready  to  own  them.  Without  you 
to  sail  the  boat,  I  might  have  been  left  to  perish  on  that  rock 
— for  God  only  knows  whether  any  vessel  would  have  seen  me 
in  passing.  Most  of  those  wdio  go  through  that  passage,  keep 
the  western  side  of  the  reef  aboard,  they  tell  me,  on  account 


JACK      TIER.  365 

of  there  being  better  water  on  that  side  of  the  channel,  and 
the  chance  of  a  man's  being  seen  on  a  rock,  by  ships  a  league 
or  two  off,  would  be  small  indeed.  Yes,  Jack,  I  owe  m)  life 
to  you,  and  am  proud  to  own  it." 

"  You  owe  it  to  Miss  Rose,  maty,  who  put  me  up  to  the 
enterprise,  and  who  shared  it  with  me." 

"  To  her  I  owe  more  than  life,"  answered  Harry,  looking  at 
his  beloved  as  she  delighted  in  being  regarded  by  him,  "  but 
even  she,  with  all  her  wishes  to  serve  me,  would  have  been 
helpless  without  your  skill  in  managing  a  boat.  I  owre  also  to 
your  good-nature  the  happiness  of  having  Ro:se  with  me  at  this 
moment ;  for  without  you  she  wTould  not  have  come." 

"  I'll  not  deny  it,  maty — take  another  ladle-full  of  the  soup, 
Miss  Rosy  ;  a  quart  of  it  wouldn't  hurt  an  infant — I'll  not  deny 
it,  Mr.  Mulford — I  know  by  the  way  you've  got  rid  of  the  first 
bowl  full  that  you  are  ready  for  another,  and  there  it  is — I'll 
not  deny  it,  all  I  can  say  is  that  you  are  heartily  welcome  to 
my  sarvices." 

"  I  thank  you,  Jack  ;  but  all  this  only  makes  me  more  de 
sirous  of  being  of  use  to  yon,  now,  when  it  is  in  my  power. 
I  Avish  you  to  stick  by  me,  and  not  return  to  the  Swash.  As 
soon  as  I  get  to  New  York  I  shall  build  or  buy  a  ship,  and  the 
berth  of  steward  in  her  shall  always  be  open  to  you." 

"  Thank' e,  maty ;  thank'e,  with  all  my  heart.  It's  some- 
thing to  know  that  a  port  is  open  to  leeward,  and,  though  I 
cannot  now  accept  your  offer,  the  day  may  come  when  I  shall 
be  glad  to  do  so." 

"  If  you  like  living  ashore  better,  our  house  will  always  be 
ready  to  receive  you.  I  should  be  glad  to  leave  as  handy  a 
little  fellow  as  yourself  behind  me  whenever  I  went  to  sea. 
There  are  a  hundred  things  in  which  you  might  be  useful  and 
fully  earn  your  biscuit,  so  as  to  have  no  qualms  about  eating 
the  bread  of  idleness." 

"  Thank'e,  thank'e,  maty,"  cried  Jack,  dashing  a  tear  out  of 
ais  eye  with  the  back  of  his  hand,  "  thank'e,  sir,  from' the  hot- 


306  J  A  C  K      T  I  E  R. 

torn  of  my  heart.  The  time  may  come,  but  not  now.  My 
papers  is  signed  for  this  v'y'ge.  Stephen  Spike  has  a  halter 
round  his  neck,  as  yon  say  yourself,  and  it's  necessary  for  mo 
to  be  there  to  look  to't.  We  all  have  our  callin's  and  duties, 
and  this  is  mine.  I  stick  by  the  Molly  and  her  captain  until 
both  are  out  of  this  scrape,  or  both  are  condemned.  I  know 
nothin'  of  treason;  but  if  the  law  wants  another  victim,  I  must 
take  my  chance." 

Mulford  was  surprised  at  this  steadiness  of  Jack's,  in  what 
he  thought  a  very  bad  cause,  and  he  was  quite  as  much  sur- 
prised that  Rose  did  not  join  him,  in  his  endeavors  to  persuade 
the  steward  not  to  be  so  foolhardy,. as  to  endeavor  to  go  back 
to  the  brig.  Hose  did  not,  however ;  sitting  silently  eating  her 
dinner  the  whole  time,  though  she  occasionally  cast  glances  of 
interest  at  both  the  speakers  the  while.  In  this  state  of  things 
the  mate  abandoned  the  attempt,  for  the  moment,  intending  to 
return  to  the  subject,  after  having  had  a  private  conversation 
with  his  betrothed. 

Notwithstanding  the  little  drawback  just  related,  that  was 
a  happy  as  well  as  a  delicious  repast.  The  mate  did  full  jus- 
tice to  the  soup,  and  afterwards  to  the  fish  with  the  unpoetical 
name ;  and  Rose  ate  more  than  she  had  done  in  the  last  three 
days.  The  habits  of  discipline  prevented  Jack  from  takmg  his 
seat  at  table,  though  pressed  by  both  Rose  and  Harry  to  do 
so,  but  he  helped  himself  to  the  contents  of  a  bowl,  and  did 
full  justice  to  his  own  art,  on  one  aside.  The  little  fellow  was 
delighted  with  the  praises  that  were  bestowed  on  his  dishes ; 
and  for  the  moment,  the  sea,  its  dangers,  its  tornadoes,  wrecks 
and  races,  were  all  forgotten  in  the  security  and  pleasures  of  so 
savory  a  repast. 

"  Folk  ashore  don't  know  how  sailors  sometimes  live,"  said 
Jack,  holding  a  large  spoon  filled  with  the  soup  ready  to  plunge 
into  a  tolerably  capacious  mouth. 

"  Or  how  they  sometimes  starve,"  answered  Rose.  "  Re- 
member'our  own  situation,  less  than  foity-eight  hours  since!" 


JACK     TIER.  367 

"  All  very  true,  Miss  Rose  ;  yet,  you  see,  tin  tie-soup  brings 
ns  up,  a'ter  all.     Would  you  like  a  glass  of  wiue,  maty  V 

"  Very  much  indeed,  Jack,  after  so  luscious  a  soup ;  but 
wishing  for  it  will  not  bring  it  here." 

"  That  remains  to  be  seen,  sir.  I  call  this  a  bottle  of  some- 
thing that  looks  wery  much  like  a  wine." 

"  Claret,  as  I  live  !  Why,  where  should  lighthouse  keepers 
get  the  taste  for  claret  ?" 

"I've  thought  of  that  myself,  Mr.  Mulford,  and  have  sup- 
posed that  some  of  Uncle  Sam's  officers  have  brought  the 
liquor  to  this  part  of  the  world.  I  understand  a  party  on  'em 
was  here  surveyin'  all  last  winter.  It  seems  they  come  in  the 
cool  weather,  and  get  their  sigbts  and  measure  their  distances, 
and  go  home  in  the  warm  weather,  and  work  out  their  traverses 
in  the  shade,  as  it  might  be." 

"This  seems  likely,  Jack;  but,  come  whence  it  may,  it  is 
welcome,  and  we  will  taste  it." 

Mulford  then  drew  the  cork  of  this  mild  and  grateful  liquor, 
and  helped  his  companions  and  himself.  In  this  age  of  moral 
tours  de  force,  one  scarcely  dare  say  any  thing  favorable  of  a 
liquid  that  even  bears  the  name  of  wine,  or  extol  the  shape  of 
a  bottle.  It  is  truly  the  era  of  exaggeration.  Nothing  is 
treated  in  the  old-fashioned,  natural,  common-sense  way. 
Virtue  is  no  longer  virtue,  unless  it  get  upon  stilts ;  and,  as 
for  sin's  being  confined  to  "  transgression  against  the  law  of 
God,"  audacious  would  be  the  wretch  who  should  presume  to 
limit  the  sway  of  the  societies  by  any  dogma  so  narrow !  A 
man  may  be  as  abstemious  as  an  anchorite,  and  get  no  credit 
for  it,  unless  "  he  sign  the  pledge ;"  or,  signing  the  pledge,  he 
may  get  fuddled  in  corners,  and  be  cited  as  a  miracle  of  sobrie- 
ty. The  test  of  morals  is  no  longer  in  the  abuse  of  the  gifts  of 
Providence,  but  in  their  use ;  prayers  are  deserting  the  closet 
for  the  corners  of  streets,  and  charity  (not  the  giving  of  alms) 
Las  got  to  be  so  earnest  in  the  demonstration  of  its  nature,  as 
to  be  pretty  certain  to  "begin  at  home,"  and  to  end  where  it 


368  JACK     TIER. 

begins.  Even  the  art  of  mendacity  has  been  aroused  by  the 
great  progress  which  is  making  by  all  around  it,  and  many 
manifest  the  strength  of  their  ambition  by  telling  ten  lies  where 
their  fathers  would  have  been  satisfied  with  telling  only  one. 
This  art  has  made  an  extraordinary  progress  within  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  aspiring  to  an  ascendency  that  was  for- 
merly conceded  only  to  truth,  until  he  who  gains  his  daily 
bread  by  it  has  some  such  contempt  for  the  sneaking  wretch 
who  does  business  on  the  small  scale,  as  the  slayer  of  his  thou- 
sands in  the  field  is  known  to  entertain  for  him  who  kills  only 
a  single  man  in  the  course  of  a  long  life. 

At  the  risk  of  damaging  the  reputations  of  our  hero  and 
heroine,  we  shall  frankly  aver  the  fact  that  both  Harry  and 
Rose  partook  of  the  vin  de  Bordeaux,  a  very  respectable  bot- 
tle of  Medoc,  by  the  way,  which  had  been  forgotten  by  Uncle 
Sam's  people,  in  the  course  of  the  preceding  winter,  agreeably 
to  Jack  Tier's  conjecture.  One  glass  sufficed  for  Rose,  and, 
contrary  as  it  may  be  to  all  modern  theory,  she  was  somewhat 
the  better  for  it;  while  the  mate  and  Jack  Tier  quite  half 
emptied  the  bottle,  being  none  the  worse.  There  they  sat, 
enjoying  the  security  and  abundance  which  had  succeeded  to 
their  late  danger,  happy  in  that  security,  happy  in  themselves, 
and  happy  in  the* prospects  of  a  bright  future.  It  was  just  as 
practicable  for  them  to  remain  at  the  Dry  Tortngas,  as  it  was 
for  the  family  which  ordinarily  dwelt  at  the  light.  The  place 
was  amply  supplied  with  every  thing  that  would  be  necessary 
for  their  wants,  for  months  to  come,  and  Uarry  caused  his  be- 
trothed to  blush,  as  he  whispered  to  her,  should  the  chaplain 
arrive,  he  should  delight  in  passing  the  honeymoon  where 
they  then  were. 

"  I  could  tend  the  light,"  he  added,  smiling,  ".which  would 
be  not  only  an  occupation,  but  a  useful  occupation ;  you  could 
read  all  those  books  from  beginning  to  end,  and  Jack  could 
keep  us  supplied  with  fish.  By  the  way,  master  steward,  are 
vou  in  the  humor  for  motion,  so  soon  after  your  hearty  meal?" 


JACK      TIER.  3G9 

"  Any  thing  to  be  useful,"  answered  Jack,  cheerfully. 

"Then  do  me  the  favor  to  go  up  into  the  lantern  of  the 
lighthouse,  and  take  a  look  for  the  sloop-of-war.  If  she's  in 
sight  at  all,  you'll  find  her  off  here  to  the  northward ;  and 
while  you  are  aloft  you  may  as  well  make  a  sweep  of  the  whole 
horizon.  There  hangs  the  lighthouse  keeper's  glass,  which 
may  help  your  eyes,  by  stepping  into  the  gallery  outside  of  the 
lantern." 

Jack  willingly  complied,  taking  the  glass  and  proceeding 
forthwith  to  the  other  building.  Mulford  had  two  objects  in 
view  in  giving  this  commission  to  the  steward.  He  really 
wished  to  ascertain  what  was  the  chance  of  seeing  the  Pough- 
keepsie,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  islets,  and  felt  just  that  in- 
disposition to  move  himself,  that  is  apt  to  come  over  one  who 
has  recently  made  a  very  bountiful  meal,  while  he  also  desired 
to  have  another  private  conversation  with  Rose. 

A  good  portion  of  the  time  that  Jack  was  gone,  and  he 
stayed  quite  an  hour  in  the  lantern,  our  lovers  conversed  as 
lovers  are  much  inclined  to  converse ;  that  is  to  say,  of  them- 
selves, their  feelings,  and  their  prospects.  Mulford  told  Rose 
of  his  hopes  and  fears,  while  he  visited  at  the  house  of  her 
aunt,  previously  to  sailing,  and  the  manner  in  which  his  sus- 
picions had  been  first  awakened  in  reference  to  the  intentions 
of  Spike — intentions,  so  far  as  they  were  connected  with  an 
admiration  of  his  old  commander's  niece,  and  possibly  in  con- 
nection also  with  the  little  fortune  she  was  known  to  possess, 
but  not  in  reference  to  the  bold  project  to  which  he  had,  in 
fact,  resorted.  No  distrust  of  the  scheme  finally  put  in  prac- 
tice had  ever  crossed  the  mind  of  the  young  mate,  until  he 
received  the  unexpected  order,  mentioned  in  our  opening  chap- 
ter, to  prepare  the  brig  for  the  reception  of  Mrs.  Budd  and  her 
party.  Harry  confessed  his  jealousy  of  one  youth  whom  he 
dreaded  far  more  even  than  he  had  ever  dreaded  Spike,  and 
whose  apparent  favor  with  Rose,  and  actual  favor  with  her 
aunt,  had  given  him  many  a  sleepless  night. 


370  JACK     TIER. 

They  next  conversed  of  the  future,  which  to  them  seemed 
full  of  flowers.  Various  were  the  projects  started,  discussed, 
and  dismissed,  between  them,  the  last  almost  as  soon  as  pro- 
posed. On  one  thing  they  were  of  a  miud,  as  soon  as  pro- 
posed. Harry  was  to  have  a  ship  as  quick  as  one  could  be 
purchased  by  Rose's  means,  and  the  promised  bride  laughing- 
ly consented  to  make  one  voyage  to  Europe  along  with  her 
husband. 

"  I  wonder,  dear  Rose,  my  poverty  has  never  presented  any 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  our  union,"  said  Harry,  sensibly 
touched  with  the  free  way  his  betrothed  disposed  of  her  own 
money  in  his  behalf;  "but  neither  you  nor  Mrs.  Budd  has 
ever  seemed  to  think  of  the  difference  there  is  between  us  in 
this  respect." 

"What  is  the  trifle  I  possess,  Harry,  set  in  the  balance 
against  your  worth  ?  My  aunt,  as  you  say,  has  thought  I  might 
even  be  the  gainer  by  the  exchange." 

"  I  am  sure  I  feel  a  thousand  times  indebted  to  Mrs. 
Budd—" 

"  Aunt  Budd.  You  must  learn  to  say,  '  my  Aunt  Budd,' 
Mr.  Henry  Mulford,  if  you  mean  to  live  in  peace  with  her  un- 
worthy niece." 

"Aunt  Budd,  then,"  returned  Harry,  laughing,  for  the  laugh 
came  easily  that  evening ;  "  Aunt  Budd,  if  you  wish  it,  Rose. 
I  can  have  no  objection  to  call  any  relative  of  yours,  uncle  or 
aunt." 

"I  think  we  are  intimate  enough,  now,  to  ask  you  a  ques- 
tion or  two,  Harry,  touching  my  aunt,"  continued  Rose,  look- 
ing stealthily  over  her  shoulder,  as  if  apprehensive  of  being 
overheard.  "  You  know  how  fond  she  is  of  speaking  of  the 
sea,  and  of  indulging  in  nautical  phrases  ?" 

"  Any  one  must  have  observed  that,  Rose,"  answered  the 
young  man,  gazing  up  at  the  wall,  in  order  not  to  be  com- 
pelled to  look  the  beautiful  creature  before  him  in  the  eyes — 
"  Mrs.  Budd  has  very  strong  tastes  that  way." 


JACK     TIER.  371 

"  Now  tell  me,  Harry — that  is,  answer  me  frankly — I  mean 
— she  is  not  always  right,  is  she  ?" 

"  Why,  no  ;  not  absolutely  so — that  is,  not  absolutely  always 
so — few  persons  are  always  right,  you  know." 

Rose  remained  silent  and  embarrassed  for  a  moment,  aftei 
which  she  pursued  the  discourse. 

"  But  aunty  does  not  know  as  much  of  the  sea  and  of  ships 
as  sbe  thinks  she  does  ?" 

"  Perhaps  not.  We  all  overrate  our  own  acquirements.  1 
dare  say  that  even  I  am  not  as  good  a  seaman  as  I  fancy  my- 
self to  be." 

"  Even  Spike  admits  that  you  are  what  he  calls  '  a  prime 
seaman.'  But  it  is  not  easy  for  a  woman  to  get  a  correct 
knowledge  of  the  use  of  all  the  strange,  and  sometimes  uncouth, 
terms  that  you  sailors  use." 

"Certainly  not,  and  for  that  reason  I  would  rather  you 
should  never  attempt  it,  Rose.  We  rough  sons  of  the  ocean 
would  prefer  to  hear  our  wives  make  divers  pretty  blun- 
ders, rather  than  to  be  swaggering  about  like  so  many  'old 
salts.' " 

"  Mr.  Mulford  !  Does  Aunt  Budd  swagger  like  an  old 
salt?" 

"Dearest  Rose,  I  was  not  thinking  of  your  aunt,  but  of  you. 
Of  you,  as  you  are,  feminine,  spirited,  lovely  alike  in  form  and 
character,  and  of  you  a  graduate  of  the  ocean,  and  full  of  its 
language  and  ideas." 

It  was  probable  Rose  was  not  displeased  at  this  allusion  to 
herself,  for  a  smile  struggled  around  her  pretty  mouth,  and  she 
did  not  look  at  all  angry.  After  another  short  pause,  she  re- 
sumed the  discourse. 

"My  aunt  did  not  very  clearly  comprehend  those  explana- 
tions of  yours  about  the  time  of  day,  and  the  longitude,"  she 
said,  "  nor  am  I  quite  certain  that  I  did  myself." 

"  You  understand  them  far  better  than  Mrs.  Budd,  Rose. 
Women  are  so  little  accustomed  to  think  on  such  subjects  at 


372  JACK     TIER. 

all,  that  it  is  not  surprising  they  sometimes  get  confused.  I  do 
wish,  however,  that  your  aunt  could  be  persuaded  to  be  more 
cautious  in  the  presence  of  strangers,  on  the  subject  of  terms 
slie  does  not  understand." 

"  I  feared  it  might  be  so,  Harry,"  answered  Rose,  in  a  low 
voice,  as  if  unwilling  even  he  should  know  the  full  extent  of 
her  thoughts  on  this  subject;  "but  my  aunt's  heart  is  most 
excellent,  though  she  may  make  mistakes  occasionally.  I  owe 
her  a  great  deal,  if  not  absolutely  my  education,  certainly  my 
health  and  comfort  through  childhood,  and  more  prudent, 
womanly  advice  than  you  may  suppose,  perhaps,  since  I  have 
left  school.  How  she  became  the  dupe  of  Spike,  indeed,  is  to 
me  unaccountable  ;  for  in  all  that  relates  to  health,  she  is,  in 
general,  both  acute  and  skilful." 

"  Spike  is  a  man  of  more  art  than  he  appears  to  be  to  super- 
ficial observers.  On  my  first  acquaintance  with  him,  I  mistook 
him  for  a  frank,  fearless,  but  well-meaning  sailor,  who  loved 
hazardous  voyages  and  desperate  speculation — a  sort  of  inno- 
cent gambler ;  but  I  have  learned  to  know  better.  His  means 
are  pretty  much  reduced  to  his  brig,  and  she  is  getting  old, 
and  can  do  but  little  more  service.  His  projects  are  plain 
enough,  now.  By  getting  you  into  his  power,  he  hoped  to 
compel  a  marriage,  in  which  case  both  your  fortune  and  your 
aunt's  would  contribute  to  repair  his." 

"  He  might  have  killed  me,  but  I  never  would  have  married 
him,"  rejoined  Rose,  firmly.  "  Is  not  that  Jack  coming  down 
the  steps  of  the  lighthouse  ?" 

"  It  is.  I  find  that  fellow's  attachment  to  Spike  very  extra- 
ordinary, Rose.     Can  you,  in  any  manner,  account  for  it  VI 

Rose  at  first  seemed  disposed  to  reply.  Her  lips  parted,  as 
if  about  to  speak,  and  closed  again,  as,  glancing  her  eyes  to- 
wards the  open  door,  she  seemed  to  expect  the  appearance  of 
the  steward's  little  rotund  form  on  its  threshold,  which  held  her 
tongue  tied.  A  brief  interval  elapsed,  however,  ere  Jack  ac- 
tually arrived,  and  Rose,  perceiving  that  Harry  was  curiously 


JACK     TIER.  S^ 

expecting  her  answer,  said  hurriedly — "  It  may  be  hatred,  not 
attachment." 

The  next  instant  Jack  Tier  entered  the  room.  lie  had  been 
gone  rather  more  than  an  hour,  not  returning  until  just  as  the 
sun  was  about  to  set  in  a  flame  of  fire. 

"  Well,  Jack,  what  news  from  the  Poughkeepsie  2"  demanded 
the  mate.  "  You  have  been  gone  long  enough  to  make  sure  ot 
your  errand.  It  is  certain  that  we  are  not  to  see  the  man-of- 
war's-men  to-night. 

"Whatever  you  see,  my  advice  to  you  is  to  keep  close,  and 
to  be  on  your  guard,"  answered  Jack,  evasively. 

"  I  have  little  fear  of  any  of  Uncle  Sam's  craft.  A  plain 
story,  and  an  honest  heart,  will  make  all  clear  to  a  well-dis- 
posed listener.  We  have  not  been  accomplices  in  Spike's 
treasons,  and  cannot  be  made  to  answer  for  them." 

"Take  my  advice,  maty,  and  be  in  no  hurry  to  hail  every 
vessel  you  see.  Uncle  Sam's  fellows  may  not  always  be  at 
hand  to  help  you.  Do  you  not  know  that  this  island  will  be 
tabooed  to  seamen  for  some  time  to  come  ?" 

"  Why  so,  Jack  ?  The  islet  has  done  no  harm,  though  others 
may  have  performed  wicked  deeds  near  it." 

"  Two  of  the  drowned  men  lie  within  a  hundred  yards  of  this 
spot,  and  sailors  never  go  near  new-made  graves,  if  they  can 
find  any  other  place  to  resort  to." 

"  You  deal  in  enigmas,  Jack ;  and  did  I  not  know  that  you  are 
very  temperate,  I  might  suspect  that  the  time  you  have  been 
gone  has  been  passed  in  the  company  of  a  bottle  of  brandy." 

"  That  will  explain  my  meanin',"  said  Jack,  laconically,  point- 
ing as  he  spoke  seemiugly  at  some  object  that  was  to  be  seen 
without. 

The  door  of  the  house  was  wide  open,  for  the  admission  ot 
air.  It  faced  the  haven  of  the  islets,  and  just  as  the  mate's 
eyes  were  turned  to  it,  the  end  of  a  flying-jib-boom,  with  the 
sail  down,  and  fluttering  beneath  it,  was  coming  into  the  view. 
"  The  Poughkeepsie  !"  exclaimed  Mulford,  in  delight,  seeing  all 


374 


JACK     TIER 


his  hopes  realized,  while  Rose  blushed  to  the  eyes.  A  pausa 
succeeded,  during  which  Mulford  drew  aside,  keeping  his  be- 
trothed in  the  background,  and  as  much  out  of  sight  as  pos- 
sible. The  vessel  was  shooting  swiftly  into  view,  and  presently 
all  there  could  see  it  was  the  Swash. 


^ 


JACK     TIER. 


375 


CHAPTER   XII, 

"  But  no — he  surely  is  not  dreaming. 

Another  minute  makes  it  clear, 

A  scream,  a  rush,  a  burning  tear, 

From  Inez'  cheek,  dispel  the  fear 

That  bliss  like  his  is  only  seeming." 

"Washington  Alston. 

A  moment  of  appalled  surprise  succeeded  the  instant  when 
Harry  and  Rose  first  ascertained  the  real  character  of  the  vessel 
that  had  entered  the  haven  of  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Then  the 
first  turned  towards  Jack  Tier,  and  sternly  demanded  an  expla- 
nation of  his  apparent  faithlessness. 

"  Rascal,"  he  cried,  "  has  this  treachery  been  intended  ?  Did 
you  not  see  the  brig  and  know  her  ?" 

"  Hush,  Harry — dear  Harry,"  exclaimed  Rose,  entreatingly. 
"My  life  for  it,  Jack  has  not  been  faithless." 

"  Why,  theu,  has  he  not  let  us  know  that  the  brig  was  com- 
ing ?  For  more  than  an  hour  has  he  been  aloft,  on  the  look- 
out, and  here  are  we  taken  quite  by  surprise.  Rely  on  it,  Rose, 
he  has  seen  the  approach  of  the  brig,  and  might  have  sooner 
put  us  on  our  guard." 

"  Ay,  ay,  lay  it  on,  maty,"  said  Jack,  coolly,  neither  angry 
nor  mortified,  so  far  as  appearances  went,  at  these  expressions 
of  dissatisfaction ;  "  my  back  is  used  to  it.  If  I  didn't  know 
what  it  is  to  get  hard  raps  on  the  knuckles,  I  should  be  but  a 
young  steward.  But,  as  for  this  business,  a  little  reflection  will 
tell  you  I  am  not  to  blame." 

"  Give  us  your  own  explanations,  for  without  them  I  shall 
trust  you  no  longer." 


376  JACK     TIER. 

"  Well,  sir,  what  good  would  it  have  done,  had  I  told  you 
the  brig  was  standing  for  this  place  ?  There  she  came  down, 
like  a  race-horse,  and  escape  for  you  was  impossible.  As  the 
wind  is  now  blowin',  the  Molly  would  go  two  feet  to  the  boat's 
one,  and  a  chase  would  have  been  madness." 

"  I  don't  know  that,  sirrah,"  answered  the  mate.  "  The  boat 
might  have  got  into  the  smaller  passages  of  the  reef,  where  the 
brig  could  not  enter,  or  she  might  have  dodged  about  among 
these  islets,  until  it  was  night,  and  then  escaped  in  the  darkness." 

"  I  thought  of  all  that,  Mr.  Mulford,  but  it  came  too  late. 
When  I  first  went  aloft,  I  came  out  on  the  northwest  side  of 
the  lantern,  and  took  my  seat,  to  look  out  for  the  sloop-of-war, 
as  you  bade  me,  sir.  Well,  there  I  was,  sweepin'  the  horizon 
with  the  glass  for  the  better  part  of  an  hour,  sometimes  fancyin' 
I  saw  her,  and  then  givin'  it  up ;  for  to  this  moment  I  am  not 
sartain  there  isn't  a  sail  off  here  to  the  westward,  turning  up 
towards  the  light  on  a  bowline  ;  but  if  there  be,  she's  too  far  off 
to  know  any  thing  partic'lar  about  her.  Well,  sir,  there  I  sat, 
looking  for  the  Poughkeepsie,  for  the  better  part  of  an  hour, 
when  I  thought  I  would  go  round  on  t'other  side  of  the  lan- 
tern and  take  a  look  to  windward.  My  heart  was  in  my 
mouth,  I  can  tell  you,  Miss  Rose,  when  I  saw  the  brig;  and  I 
felt  both  glad  and  sorry.  Glad  on  my  own  account,  and  sorry 
on  your'n.  There  she  was,  however,  and  no  help  for  it,  with- 
in two  miles  of  this  very  spot,  and  coming  down  as  if  she  de- 
spised touching  the  water  at  all.  Now,  what  could  I  do  ?  There 
wasn't  time,  Mr.  Mulford,  to  get  the  boat  out,  and  the  mast 
stepped,  afore  we  should  have  been  within  reach  of  canister, 
and  Stephen  Spike  would  not  have  spared  that,  in  order  to  get 
you  again  within  his  power." 

"  Depend  on  it,  Harry,  this  is  all  true,"  said  Rose,  earnestly. 
"  I  know  Jack  well,  and  can  answer  for  his  fidelity.  lie  wishes 
to,  and  if  he  can  he  ivill  return  to  the  brig,  whither  he  thinks 
his  duty  calls  him,  but  he  will  never  willingly  betray  us — least 
of  all,  me.     Do  I  speak  as  I  ought,  Jack  ?" 


JACK      TIER.  311 

"  Gospel  truth,  Miss  Rose,  and  Mr.  Multord  will  get  over  tliia 
squall,  as  soon  as  he  comes  to  think  of  matters  as  he  ought. 
There's  my  hand,  maty,  to  show  I  bear  no  malice." 

"  I  take  it,  Jack,  for  I  must  believe  you  honest,  after  all  you 
have  done  for  us.  Excuse  my  warmth,  which,  if  a  little  un- 
reasonable, was  somewhat  natural  under  the  circumstances.  I 
suppose  our  case  is  now  hopeless,  and  that  we  shall  all  be  soon 
on  board  the  brig  again;  for  Spike  will  hardly  think  of  aban- 
doning me  again  on  an  island  provisioned  and  fitted  as  is 
this !" 

"  It's  not  so  sartain,  sir,  that  you  fall  into  his  hands  at  all," 
put  in  Jack.  "  The  men  of  the  brig  will  never  come  here  of 
their  own  accord,  depend  on  that,  for  sailors  don't  like  graves. 
Spike  has  come  in  here  a'ter  the  schooner's  chain,  that  he 
dropped  into  the  water  when  he  made  sail  from  the  sloop-of- 
war,  at  the  time  he  was  here  afore,  and  is  not  expectin'  to  find 
us  here.  No — no — he  thinks  we  are  beatin'  up  towards  Key 
West  this  very  minute,  if,  indeed,  he  has  missed  us  at  all.  'Tis 
possible  he  believes  the  boat  has  got  adrift  by  accident,  and 
has  no  thought  of  our  beiu'  out  of  the  brier." 

'"  That  is  impossible,  Jack.  Do  you  suppose  he  is  ignorant 
that  Rose  is  missing  ?" 

"  Sartain  of  it,  maty,  if  Mrs.  Budd  has  read  the  letter  well 
that  Miss  Rose  left  for  her,  and  Biddy  has  obeyed  orders.  If 
they've  followed  instructions,  Miss  Rose  is  thought  to  be  in  her 
stateroom,  mournin'  for  a  young  man  who  was  abandoned  on 
a  naked  rock ;  and  Jack  Tier,  bavin'  eat  somethin'  that  has  dis- 
agreed with  him,  is  in  his  berth.  Recollect,  Spike  will  not  be 
apt  to  look  into  Miss  Rose's .  stateroom  or  my  berth,  to  see  if 
all  this  is  true.  The  cook  and  Josh  are  both  in  my  secret,  and 
know  I  mean  to  come  back,  and  when  the  fit  is  over  I  have 
only  to  return  to  duty,  like  any  other  hand.  It  is  my  calcu- 
lation that  Spike  believes  both  Miss  Rose  and  myself  on  board 
the  Molly  at  this  very  moment." 

"And  the  boat — what  can  he  suppose  has  become  of  the  boat  3" 


378  JACK     TIER. 

"  Sartainly,  the  boat  makes  the  only  chance  ag'in  us.  But 
the  boat  was  ridin'  by  its  painter  astarn,  and  accidents  some- 
times happen  to  such  craft.  Then  we  two  are  the  wery  last 
he  will  suspect  of  havin'  made  off  in  the  boat  by  ourselves. 
There'll  be  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy  as  a  sort  of  pledge  that  Miss 
Rose  is  aboard,  and  as  for  Jack  Tier,  he  is  too  insignificant  to 
occupy  the  captain's  thoughts  just  now.  lie  will  probably 
muster  the  people  for'ard,  when  he  finds  the  boat  is  gone,  but 
I  do  not  think  he'll  trouble  the  cabins  or  staterooms." 

Mulford  admitted  that  this  was  jiossible,  though  it  scarcely 
seemed  probable  to  him.  There  was  no  help,  however,  for  the 
actual  state  of  things,  and  they  all  now  turned  their  attention 
to  the  brig,  and  to  the  movements  of  those  on  board  her.  Jack 
Tier  had  swung  to  the  outer  door  of  the  house,  as  soon  as  the 
Swash  came  in  view  through  it,  and  fortunately  none  of  the 
wiudows  on  that  side  of  the  building  had  been  opened  at  all. 
The  air  entered  to  windward,  which  was  on  the  rear  of  the 
dwelling,  so  that  it  was  possible  to  be  comfortable,  and  yet  leave 
the  front,  in  view  from  the  vessel,  with  its  deserted  air.  As  for 
the  brig,  she  had  already  anchored  and  got  both  her  boats  into 
the  water.  The  yawl  was  hauled  alongside,  in  readiness  for 
any  service  that  might  be  required  of  it,  while  the  launch  had 
been  manned  at  once,  and  was  already  weighing  the  anchor, 
and  securing  the  chain  to  which  Tier  had  alluded.  All  this 
served  very  much  to  lessen  the  uneasiness  of  Mulford  and  Rose, 
as  it  went  far  to  prove  that  Spike  had  not  come  to  the  Dry 
Tortugas  in  quest  of  them,  as,  at  first,  both  had  very  naturally 
supposed.  It  might,  indeed,  turn  out  that  his  sole  object  was 
to  obtain  this  anchor  and  chain,  with  a  view  to  use  them  in 
raising  the  ill-fated  vessel  that  had  now  twice  gone  to  the 
boltom. 

"I  wish  an  explanation  with  you,  Jack,  on  one  other  point," 
said  the  mate,  after  all  three  had  been  for  some  time  observing 
the  movements  on  board  and  around  the  Swash.  "Do  you 
actually  intend  to  get  on  board  the  brig  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  379 

"If  it's  to  be  done,  maty.  My  v'y'ge  is  up  with  you  and 
Miss  Rose.  I  may  be  said  to  have  shipped  for  Key  West  and 
a  market,  and  the  market's  found  at  this  port." 

"You  will  hardly  leave  us  yet,  Jack,"  said  Rose,  with  a  man- 
ner and  emphasis  that  did  not  fail  to  strike  her  betrothed 
lover,  though  he  could  in  no  way  account  for  either.  That 
Rose  should  not  wish  to  be  left  alone  with  him  in  that  solitary 
place,  was  natural  enough ;  or,  might  rather  be  referred  to 
education  and  the  peculiar  notions  of  her  sex ;  but  he  could 
not  understand  why  so  much  importance  should  be  attached 
to  the  presence  of  a  being  of  Jack  Tier's  mould  and  character. 
It  was  true,  that  there  was  little  choice,  under  present  circum- 
stances, but  it  occurred  to  Mulford  that  Rose  had  manifested 
the  same  strange  predilection  when  there  might  have  been 
something  nearer  to  a  selection.  The  moment,  however,  was 
not  one  for  much  reflection  on  the  subject. 

"  You  will  hardly  leave  us  yet,  Jack  ?"  said.  Rose,  in  the 
manner  related. 

"  It's  now  or  never,  Miss  Rose.  If  the  brig  once  gets  away 
from  this  anchorage  without  me,  I  may  never  lay  eyes  on  her 
ag'in.  Iler  time  is  nearly  up,  for  wood  and  iron  won't  hold  to- 
gether always,  any  more  than  flesh  and  blood.  Consider  how 
many  years  I've  been  busy  in  huntin'  her  up,  and  how  hard 
'twill  be  to  lose  that  which  has  given  me  so  many  weary  days 
and  sleepless  nights  to  find." 

Rose  said  no  more.  If  not  convinced,  she  was  evidently 
silenced,  while  Ilarry  was  left  to  wonder  and  surmise,  as  best 
he  might.  Both  quitted  the  subject,  to  watch  the  people  of 
the  brig.  By  this  time  the  anchor  had  been  lifted,  and  the 
chain  was  heaving  in  on  board  the  vessel,  by  means  of  a  line 
that  had  been  got  around  its  bight.  The  work  went  on  rapid- 
ly, and  Mulford  observed  to  Rose  that  he  did  not  think  it  was 
the  intention  of  Spike  to  remain  long  at  the  Tortugas,  inas- 
much as  his  brig  was  riding  by  a  very  short  range  of  cable. 
This  opinion  was  confirmed,  half  an  hour  later,  when  it  was 


880  JACK      TIER. 

seen  that  the  launch  was  hooked  on  and  hoisted  in  again,  as 
soon  as  the  chain  and  anchor  of  the  schooner  were  secured. 

Jack  Tier  watched  every  movement  with  palpable  uneasi- 
ness. His  apprehensions  that  Spike  would  obtain  all  he  want- 
ed, and  be  off  before  he  could  rejoin  him,  increased  at  each 
instant,  and  he  did  not  scruple  to  announce  an  intention  to 
take  the  boat  and  go  alongside  of  the  Swash  at  every  hazard, 
rather  than  be  left. 

"  You  do  not  reflect  on  what  you  say,  Jack,"  answered 
Harry ;  "  unless,  indeed,  it  be  your  intention  to  betray  us.  How 
could  you  appear  in  the  boat,  at  this  place,  without  letting  it 
be  known  that  we  must  be  hard  by  f" 

"  That  don't  follow  at  all,  maty,"  answered  Jack.  "  Suppose 
I  go  alongside  the  brig  and  own  to  the  captain  that  I  took  the 
boat  last  night,  with  the  hope  of  findin'  you,  and  that  failin'  to 
succeed,  I  bore  up  for  this  port,  to  look  for  provisions  and 
water.  Miss  Rose  he  thinks  on  board  at  this  moment,  and  in 
my  judgment  he  would  take  me  at  my  word,  give  me  a  good 
cursing,  and  think  no  more  about  it." 

"  It  would  never  do,  Jack,"  interposed  Rose,  instantly.  "  It 
would  cause  the  destruction  of  Harry,  as  Spike  would  not  be- 
lieve you  had  not  found  him,  without  an  examination  of  this 
house." 

"  What  are  they  about  with  the  yawl,  Mr.  Mulford  V  asked 
Jack,  whose  eye  was  never  off  the  vessel  for  a  single  moment. 
"  It's  gettin'  to  be  so  dark  that  one  can  hardly  see  the  boat, 
but  it  seems  as  if  they're  about  to  man  the  yawl." 

"  They  are,  and  there  goes  a  lantern  into  it.  And  that  is 
Spike  himself  coming  down  the  brig's  side  this  instant." 

"  They  can  only  bring  a  lantern  to  search  this  house,"  ex- 
claimed Rose.     "  Oh  !  Harry,  you  are  lost !" 

"  I  rather  think  the  lantern  is  for  the  lighthouse,"  answered 
Mulford,  whose  coolness,  at  what  was  certainly  a  most  trying 
moment,  did  not  desert  him.  "  Spike  may  wish  to  keep  the 
light  burning,  for  once  before,  you  will  remember,  he  had  it 


JACK     TIER.  381 

kindled  after  the  keeper  was  removed.  As  for  his  sailing,  he 
would  not  be  apt  to  sail  until  the  moon  rises;  and  in  beating 
back  to  the  wreck,  the  light  may  serve  to  let  him  know  the 
bearings  and  position  of  the  reef." 

"  There  they  come,"  whispered  Rose,  half  breathless  with 
alarm.  "  The  boat  has  left  the  brig,  and  is  coming  directly 
hither !" 

All  this  was  true  enough.  The  yawl  had  shoved  off,  and 
with  two  men  to  row  it,  was  pulling  for  the  wharf  in  front  of 
the  house,  and  among  the  timbers  of  which  lay  the  boat,  pretty 
well  concealed  beneath  a  sort  of  bridge.  Mulford  would  not 
retreat,  though  he  looked  to  the  fastenings  of  the  door  as  a 
means  of  increasing  his  chances  of  defence.  In  the  stern-sheets 
of  the  boat  sat  two  men,  though  it  was  not  easy  to  ascertain 
who  they  were  by  the  fading  light.  One  was  known  to  be 
Spike,  however,  and  the  other,  it  was  conjectured,  must  be  Don 
Juan  Montefalderon,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  being  in  the 
place  of  honor.  Three  minutes  solved  this  question,  the  boat 
reaching  the  wharf  by  that  time.  It  was  instantly  secured,  and 
all  four  of  the  men  left  it.  Spike  was  now  plainly  to  be  dis- 
cerned by  means  of  the  lantern  which  he  carried  in  his  own 
hands.  He  gave  some  orders,  in  his  customary  authoritative 
way,  and  in  a  high  key,  after  which  he  led  the  way  from  the 
wharf,  walking  side  by  side  with  the  Senor  Montefalderon. 
These  two  last  came  within  a  yard  of  the  door  of  the  house, 
where  they  paused,  enabling  those  within  not  only  to  see  their 
persons  and  the  working  of  their  countenances,  but  to  hear  all 
that  was  said ;  this  last  the  more  especially,  since  Spike  never 
thought  it  necessary  to  keep  his  powerful  voice  within  moderate 
limits. 

"  It's  hardly  worth  while,  Don  Wan,  for  you  to  go  into  the 
lighthouse,"  said  Spike.  "  'Tis  but  a  greasy,  dirty  place  at  the 
best,  and  one's  clothes  are  never  the  better  for  dealin'  with  ile. 
Here,  Bill,  take  the  lantern,  and  get  a  filled  can,  that  we  may 
go- up  and  trim  and  fill  the  lamp,  and  make  a  blaze.     Bear  a 


382  JACK     TIER. 

hand,  lads,  and  I'll  be  a'ter  ye  afore  you  reach  the  lantern.  Be 
careful  with  the  flame  about  the  ile,  for  seamen  ought  never  to 
wish  to  see  a  lighthouse  destroyed." 

"  What  do  you  expect  to  gain  by  lighting  the  lamps  above, 
Don  Esteban  ?"  demanded  the  Mexican,  when  the  sailors  had 
disappeared  in  the  lighthouse,  taking  their  own  lantern  with 
them. 

"  It's  wisest  to  keep  things  reg'lar  about  this  spot,  Don  "Wan, 
which  will  prevent  unnecessary  suspicions.  But,  as  the  brig 
stretches  in  towards  the  reef  to-night,  on  our  way  back,  the  light 
will  be  a  great  assistance.  I  am  short  of  officers,  you  know,  and 
want  all  the  help  of  this  sort  I  can  get." 

';  To  be  sincere  with  you,  Don  Esteban,  I  greatly  regret  you 
are  so  short  of  officers,  and  do  not  yet  despair  of  inducing  you 
to  go  and  take  off  the  mate,  whom  I  hear  you  have  left  on  a 
barren  rock.  He  was  a  fine  young  fellow,  Senor  Spike,  and  the 
deed  was  not  one  that  you  will  wish  to  remember  a  few  years 
hence." 

"  The  fellow  run,  and  I  took  him  at  his  word,  Don  Wan. 
I'm  not  obliged  to  receive  back  a  deserter  unless  its  suits  me." 

"  We  are  all  obliged  to  see  we  do  not  cause  a  fellow-creature 
the  loss  of  life.  This  will  prove  the  death  of  the  charming 
young  woman  who  is  so  much  attached  to  him,  unless  you 
relent  and  are  merciful !" 

"Women  have  tender  looks,  but  tough  hearts,"  answered 
Spike,  carelessly,  though  Mulford  felt  certain,  by  the  tone  of  his 
voice,  that  great  bitterness  of  feeling  lay  smothered  beneath  the 
affected  indifference  of  his  manner ;  "  few  die  of  love." 

"  The  young  lady  has  not  been  on  deck  all  day,  and  the  Irish 
woman  tells  me  that  she  does  nothing  but  drink  water — the 
certain  proof  of  a  high  fever." 

"  Ay,  ay,  she  keeps  her  room  if  you  will,  Don  Wan,  but  she 
is  not  about  to  make  a  dupe  of  me  by  any  such  tricks.  I  must 
go  and  look  to  the  lamps,  however,  and  you  will  find  the  graves 
VOli  seek  in  the  rear  of  this  house,  about  thirty  yards  behind  "it, 


JACK     TIER.  383 

you'll  remember.  That's  a  very  pretty  cross  you've  made,  senor, 
and  the  skipper  of  the  schooner's  soul  will  be  all  the  better  for 
settin'  it  up  at  the  head  of  his  grave." 

"  It  will  serve  to  let  those  who  come  after  us  know  that  a 
Christian  sleeps  beneath  the  sand,  Don  Esteban,"  answered  the 
Mexican,  mildly.  "  I  have  no  other  expectation  from  this  sacred 
symbol." 

The  two  now  separated,  Spike  going  into  the  lighthouse,  little 
in  a  hurry,  while  Don  Juan  Montefalderon  walked  round  the 
building  to  its  real-,  in  quest  of  the  grave.  Mulford  waited  a 
moment  for  Spike  to  get  a  short  distance  up  the  stairs  of  the 
high  tower  he  had  to  ascend,  when  placing  the  arm  of  Rose 
within  his  own,  he  opened  the  door  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  and 
walked  boldly  towards  the  Mexican.  Don  Juan  was  actually 
forcing  the  pointed  end  of  his  little  cross  into  the  sand,  at  the 
head  of  his  countryman's  grave,  when  Mulford  and  his  trem- 
bling companion  reached  the  spot.  Although  night  had  shut  in, 
it  was  not  so  dark  that  persons  could  not  be  recognized  at  small 
distances.  The  Senor  Montefalderon  was  startled  at  an  appari- 
tion so  sudden  and  unexpected,  when  Mulford  saluted  him  by 
name ;  but  recognizing  first  the  voice  of  Harry,  and  then  the 
persons  of  himself  and  his  companion,  surprise,  rather  than 
alarm,  became  the  emotion  that  was  uppermost.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  strength  of  the  first  of  these  feelings,  he  instantly  saluted 
the  young  couple  with  the  polished  ease  that  marked  his  man- 
ner, which  had  much  of  the  courtesy  of  a  Castilian  in  it,  tem- 
pered a  little,  perhaps,  by  the  greater  flexibility  of  a  Southern 
American. 

"  I  see  you,"  exclaimed  Don  Juan,  "  and  must  believe  my 
eyes.  Without  their  evidence,  however,  I  could  scarce  believe 
it  can  be  you  two,  one  of  whom  I  thought  was  on  board  the 
brig,  and  the  other  suffering  a  most  miserable  death  on  a  naked 
rock." 

"  I  am  aware  of  your  kind  feelings  in  our  behalf,  Don  Juan," 
jaid  Mulford,  "  and  it  is  the  reason  I  now  confide  in  you.     I  was 


3S4  JACK     TIER. 

taken  off  that  rock  by  means  of  the  boat  which  you  doubtless 
have  missed ;  and  this  is  the  gentle  being  who  has  been  the 
means  of  saving  my  life.  To  her  and  Jack  Tier,  who  is  yonder, 
under  the  shadows  of  the  house,  I  owe  my  not  being  the  victim 
of  Spike's  cruelty." 

"  I  now  comprehend  the  whole  matter,  Don  Henriquez. 
Jack  Tier  has  managed  the  boat  for  the  senorita ;  and  those 
whom  we  were  told  were  too  ill  to  be  seen  on  deck,  have  been 
really  out  of  the  brig  !" 

"  Such  are  the  facts,  senor,  and  from  you  there  is  no  wish  to 
conceal  them.  We  are  then  to  understand  that  the  absence  of 
Rose  and  Jack  from  the  brig  is  not  known  to  Spike  ?" 

"  I  believe  not,  senor.  lie  has  alluded  to  both,  once  or  twice 
to-day,  as  being  ill  below ;  but  would  you  not  do  well  to  retire 
within  the  shade  of  the  dwelling,  lest  a  glance  from  the  lantern 
might  let  those  in  it  know  that  I  am  not  alone  ?" 

"  There  is  little  danger,  Don  Juan,  as  they  who  stand  near  a 
light  cannot  well  see  those  who  are  in  the  darkness.  Besides, 
they  are  high  in  the  air,  while  we  are  on  the  ground,  which  will 
greatly  add  to  the  obscurity  down  here.  We  can  retire,  never- 
theless, as  I  have  a  few  questions  to  ask,  which  may  as  well  be 
put  in  perfect  security,  as  put  where  there  is  any  risk." 

The  three  now  drew  near  the  house,  Rose  actually  stepping 
within  its  door,  though  Harry  remained  on  its  exterior,  in  order 
to  watch  the  proceedings  of  those  in  the  lighthouse.  Here  the 
Senor  Montefalderon  entered  into  a  more  detailed  explanation 
of  what  had  occurred  on  board  the  brig,  since  the  appearance  of 
day,  that  very  morning.  According  to  his  account  of  the  mat- 
ter, Spike  had  immediately  called  upon  the  people  to  explain 
the  loss  of  the  boat.  Tier  was  not  interrogated  on  this  occa- 
sion, it  being  understood  be  had  gone  below  and  turned  in,  after 
.\aviug  the  look-out  for  fully  half  the  night.  As  no  one  could, 
or  would  give  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  boat  was 
missing,  Josh  was  ordered  to  go  below  and  question  Jack  on  the 
subject.     Whether  it  was  from  consciousness  of  his  connection 


JACK     TIER.  385 

with  the  escape  of  Jack,  and  apprehensions  of  the  consequences, 
or  from  innate  good-nature,  and  a  desire  to  befriend  the  lovers, 
this  black  now  admitted  that  Jack  confessed  to  him  that  the 
boat  had  got  away  from  him  while  endeavoring  to  shift  the 
turns  of  "its  painter  from  a  cleet  where  they  ought  not  to  be,  to 
their  proper  place.  This  occurred  early  in  Jack's  watch,  ac- 
cording to  Josh's  story,  and  had  not  been  reported,  as  the  boat 
did  not  properly  belong  to  the  brig,  and  was  an  incumbrance 
rather  than  an  advantage.  The  mate  admired  the  negro's  cun- 
ning, as  Don  Juan  related  this  part  of  his  story,  which  put  him 
in  a  situation  to  throw  all  the  blame  on  Jack's  mendacity  in  the 
event  of  a  discovery,  while  it  had  the  effect  to  allow  the  fugi- 
tives more  time  for  their  escape.  The  result  was,  that  Spike 
bestowed  a  few  hearty  curses,  as  usual,  on  the  clumsiness  of 
Jack  Tier,  and  seemed  to  forget  all  about  the  matter.  It  is  prob- 
able he  connected  Jack's  abstaining  from  showing  himself  on 
deck,  and  his  alleged  indisposition,  with  his  supposed  delin- 
quency in  this  matter  of  the  boat.  From  that  moment  the  cap- 
tain appeared  to  give  himself  no  further  concern  on  the  subject, 
the  boat  having  been,  in  truth,  an  incumbrance  rather  than  a 
benefit,  as  stated. 

As  for  Rose,  her  keeping  her  room,  under  the  circumstances, 
was  so  very  natural,  that  the  Senor  Montefalderon  had  been 
completely  deceived,  as,  from  his  tranquillity  on  this  point,  there 
was  no  question  was  the  case  with  Spike  aLo.  Biddy  ap- 
peared on  deck,  though  the  widow  did  not,  and  the  Irish  woman 
shook  her  head  anxiously  when  questioned  about  her  young 
mistress,  giving  the  spectators  reason  to  suppose  that  the  latter 
was  in  a  very  bad  way. 

As  respects  the  brig  and  her  movements,  Spike  had  got  un- 
der way  as  soon  as  there  was  light  enough  to  find  his  course, 
and  had  run  through  the  passage.  It  is  probable  that  the  boat 
-v^s  seen  ;  for  something  that  was  taken  for  a  small  sail  had 
:nst  been  made  out  for  a  single  instant,  and  then  became  lost 
again.     This  little  sail  was  made,  if  made  at  all,  in  the  direc- 

IT 


386  JACK     TIER. 

tion  of  the  Dry  Tortugas,  but  so  completely  was  all  suspicion 
at  rest  in  the  minds  of  those  on  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Swash, 
that  neither  Spike  nor  the  Mexican  had  the  least  idea  what 
it  was.  When  the  circumstance  was  reported  to  the  former,  he 
answered  that  it  was  probably  some  small  wrecker,  of  which 
many  were  hovering  about  the  reef,  and  added,  laughingly, 
though  in  a  way  to  prove  how  little  he  thought  seriously  on 
the  subject  at  all,  "  who  knows  but  the  lighthouse  boat  has 
fallen  into  their  hands,  and  that  they've  made  sail  on  her  ;  if 
they  have,  my  word  for  it,  that  she  goes,  hull,  spars,  rigging, 
canvas,  and  cargo,  all  in  a  lump,  for  salvage." 

As  the  brig  came  out  of  the  passage,  in  broad  day,  the 
heads  of  the  schooner's  masts  were  seen,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
This  induced  Spike  to  heave-to,  lower  a  boat,  and  to  go  in  per- 
son to  examine  the  condition  of  the  wreck.  It  will  be  seen 
that  Jack's  presence  could  now  be  all  the  better  dispensed  with. 
The  examination,  with  the  soundings,  and  other  calculations 
connected  with  raising  the  vessel,  occupied  hours.  When  they 
were  completed,  Spike  returned  on  board,  run  up  his  boat,  and 
squared  away  for  the  Dry  Tortugas.  Seiiior  Montefalderon  con- 
firmed the  justice  of  Jack  Tier's  surmises,  as  to  the  object  of 
this  unexpected  visit.  The  brig  had  come  solely  for  the  chain 
and  anchor  mentioned,  and  having  secured  them,  it  was  Spike's 
intention  to  get  under  way  and  beat  up  to  the  wreck  again  aj 
soon  as  the  moon  rose.  As  fur  the  sloop-of-war,  he  believed 
she  had  given  him  up ;  for  by  this  time  she  must  know  that 
she  had  no  chance  with  the  brig,  so  long  as  the  latter  kept  near 
the  reef,  and  that  she  ran  the  constant  hazard  of  shipwreck, 
while  playing  so  near  the  dangers  herself. 

Before  the  Senor  Montefalderon  exhausted  all  he  had  to 
communicate,  he  was  interrupted  by  Jack  Tier  with  a  singular 
proposition.  Jack's  great  desire  was  to  get  on  board  the 
Swash  ;  and  he  now  begged  the  Mexican  to  let  Mulford  take 
the  yawl  and  scull  him  off  to  the  brig,  aud  return  to  the  islet 
before  Spike  and  his  companions  should  descend  from  the  Ian- 


JACK     TIER.  387 

tern  of  the  lighthouse.  The  little  fellow  insisted  there  was 
sufficient  time  for  such  a  purpose,  as  the  three  in  the  lantern 
had  not  yet  succeeded  in  filling  the  lamps  with  the  oil  necessary 
to  their  burning  for  a  night — a  duty  that  usually  occupied  the 
regular  keeper  for  an  hour.  Five  or  six  minutes  would  suffice 
for  him  ;  and  if  he  were  seen  going  up  the  brig's  side,  it  would 
be  easy  for  him  to  maintain  that  he  had  come  ashore  in  the 
boat.  No  one  took  such  precise  note  of  what  was  going  on,  as 
to  be  able  to  contradict  him ;  and  as  to  Spike  and  the  men 
with  him,  they  would  probably  never  hear  any  thing  about  it. 

Don  Juan  Montefalderon  was  struck  with  the  boldness  of 
Jack  Tier's  plan,  but  refused  his  assent  to  it.  He  deemed  it 
too  hazardous,  but  substituted  a  project  of  his  own.  The 
moon  would  not  rise  until  near  eleven,  and  it  wanted  several 
hours  before  the  time  of  sailing.  When  they  returned  to  the 
brig,  he  would  procure  his  cloak,  and  scull  himself  ashore, 
being  perfectly  used  to  managing  a  boat  in  this  way,  under  the 
pretence  of  wishing  to  pass  an  hour  longer  near  the  grave  of 
his  countryman.  At  the  expiration  of  that  hour  he  would 
take  Jack  off,  concealed  beneath  his  cloak — an  exploit  of  no 
great  difficulty  in  the  darkness,  especially  as  no  one  would  be 
on  deck  but  a  hand  or  two  keeping  the  anchor-watch.  With 
this  arrangement,  therefore,  Jack  Tier  was  obliged  to  be  con 
tent. 

Some  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  more  passed,  during  which 
the  Mexican  again  alluded  to  his  country,  and  his  regrets  at 
her  deplorable  situation.  The  battles  of  the  8th  and  9th  of 
May,  two  combats  that  ought  to,  and  which  will  reflect  high 
honor  on  the  little  army  that  won  them,  as  well  as  on  that 
hardly  worked,  and  in  some  respects  hardly  used,  service  to 
which  they  belong,  had  been  just  fought.  Don  Juan  mentioned 
these  events  without  reserve,  and  frankly  admitted  that  success 
had  fallen  to  the  portion  of  much  the  weaker  party.  lie  as- 
cribed the  victory  to  the  great  superiority  of  the  American 
officers  of  inferior  rank ;  it  being  well  known  that  in  the  ser- 


388  JAO,K      TIER. 

vice  of  the  "  Republic  of  the  North,"  as  he  termed  America, 
men  who  had  been  regularly  educated  at  the  military  academy, 
and  who  had  reached  the  period  of  middle  life,  were  serving 
in  the  stations  of  captains,  and  sometimes  in  that  of  lieuten- 
ants ;  men  who,  in  many  cases,  were  fitted  to  command  regi- 
ments and  brigades,  having  been  kept  in  these  lower  stations 
by  the  tardiness  with  which  promotion  comes  in  an  armv  like 
that  of  this  country. 

Don  Juan  Montefalderou  was  not  sufficiently  conversant 
with  the  subject,  perhaps,  else  he  might  have  added,  that  when 
occasions  do  offer  to  bestow  on  these  gentlemen  the  preferment 
they  have  so  hardly  and  patiently  earned,  they  are  too  often 
neglected,  in  order  to  extend  the  circle  of  vulgar  political  pat- 
ronage. He  did  not  know  that  when  a  new  regiment  of 
dragoons  was  raised,  one  permanent  in  its  character,  and  in- 
tended to  be  identified  with  the  army  in  all  future  time,  that, 
instead  of  giving  its  commissions  to  those  who  had  fairly  earned 
them  by  long  privations  and  faithful  service,  they  were  given, 
with  one  or  two  exceptions,  to  strangers. 

No  government  trifles  more  with  its  army  and  navy  than  our 
own.  So  niggardly  are  the  master-spirits  at  Washington  of 
the  honors  justly  earned  by  military  men,  that  we  have  fleets 
still  commanded  by  captains,  and  armies  by  officers,  whose 
regular  duty  it  would  be  to  command  brigades.  The  world  is 
edified  with  the  sight  of  forces  sufficient,  in  numbers,  and  every 
other  military  requisite,  to  make  one  of  Napoleon's  corps  de 
armte,  led  by  one  whose  commission  would  place  him  properly 
at  the  head  of  a  brigade,  and  nobly  led,  too.  Here,  when  so 
favorable  an  occasion  offers  to  add  a  regiment  or  two  to  the 
old  permanent  line  of  the  army,  and  thus  infuse  new  life  into 
its  hope  deferred,  the  opportunity  is  overlooked,  and  the  rank 
tnd  file  are  to  be  obtained  by  cramming,  instead  of  by  a  gene- 
rous regard  to  the  interests  of  the  gallant  gentlemen  who  have 
clone  so  much  for  the  honor  of  the  American  name,  and,  un- 
happily, so  little  for  themselves.     The    extra  patriots  of  the 


J  A  C  K     T  I  E  R  .  389 

nation,  and  they  form  a  legion  large  enough  to  trample  the 
"  Ilalls  of  the  Montezumas"  under  their  feet,  tell  us  that  the 
reward  of  those  other  patriots  beneath  the  shadows  of  the 
Sierra  Madre,  is  to  be  in  the  love  and  approbation  of  their  fel- 
low-citizens, at  the  very  moment  when  they  are  giving  the 
palpable  proof  of  the  value  of  this  esteem,  and  of  the  incon- 
sistency of  popular  applause,  by  pointing  their  ringers,  on  ac- 
count of  an  inadvertent  expression  in  a  letter,  at  the  gallant 
soldier  who  taught,  in  our  own  times,  the  troops  of  this  country 
to  stand  up  to  the  best  appointed  regiments  of  England,  and 
to  carry  off  victory  from  the  pride  of  Europe,  in  fair  field-fights. 
Alas !  alas !  it  is  true  of  nations  as  well  as  of  men,  in  their 
simplest  and  earliest  forms  of  association,  that  there  are  "se- 
crets in  all  families  ;"  and  it  will  no  more  do  to  dwell  on  our 
own,  than  it  would  edify  us  to  expose  those  of  poor  Mexico. 

The  discourse  between  the  Senor  Montefalderon  and  Mulford 
was  interesting,  as  it  ever  has  been  when  the  former  spoke  of  his 
unfortunate  country.  On  the  subject  of  the  battles  of  May  he 
was  candid,  and  admitted  his  deep  mortification  and  regrets. 
lie  had  expected  more  from  the  force  collected  on  the  Rio 
Grande,  though,  understanding  the  northern  character  better 
than  most  of  his  countrymen,  he  had  not  been  as  much  taken 
by  surprise  as  the  great  bulk  of  his  own  natiou. 

"  Nevertheless,  Don  Henrique,"  he  concluded,  for  the  voice 
of  Spike  was  just  then  heard  as  he  was  descending  the  stairs 
of  the  lighthouse,  "  nevertheless,  Don  Henrique,  there  is  one 
thing  that  your  people,  brave,  energetic,  and  powerful  as  I  ac- 
knowledge them  to  be,  would  do  well  to  remember,  and  it  is 
this  : — no  nation  of  the  numbers  of  ours  can  be,  or  ever  was, 
conquered,  unless  by  the  force  of  political  combinations.  In  a 
certain  state  of  society  a  government  may  be  overturned,  or  a 
capital  taken,  and  carry  a  whole  country  along  with  it,  but  our 
condition  is  one  not  likely  to  bring  about  such  a  result.  We 
are  of  a  race  different  from  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  it  will  not  be 
2asy  either  to  assimilate  us  to  your  own,  or  wholly  to  subdue 


390  JACK     TIER. 

us.  In  those  parts  of  the  country  where  the  population  is 
small,  in  time,  no  doubt,  the  Spanish  race  might  be  absorbed, 
and  your  sway  established  ;  but  ages  of  war  would  be  necessary 
entirely  to  obliterate  our  usages,  our  language,  and  our  religion 
from  the  peopled  portions  of  Mexico." 

It  might  be  well  for  some  among  us  to  reflect  on  these  mat- 
ters ;  the  opinions  of  Don  Juan,  in  our  judgment,  being  entitled 
to  the  consideration  of  a'll  prudent  and  considerate  men. 

As  Spike  descended  to  the  door  of  the  lighthouse,  Harry, 
Rose,  and  Jack  Tier  retired  within  that  of  the  dwelling.  Pres- 
ently the  voice  of  the  captain  was  heard  hailing  the  Mexican, 
and  together  they  walked  to  the  wharf,  the  former  boasting  to 
the  latter  of  his  success  in  making  a  brilliant  light.  Brilliant 
it  was,  indeed ;  so  brilliant  as  to  give  Mulford  many  misgivings 
on  the  subject  of  the  boat.  The  light  from  the  lantern  fell  upon 
the  wharf,  and  he  could  see  the  boat  from  the  window  where 
he  stood,  with  Spike  standing  nearly  over  it,  waiting  for  the 
men  to  get  his  own  yawl  ready.  It  is  true,  the  captain's  back 
was  towards  the  dangerous  object,  and  the  planks  of  the  bridge 
were  partly  between  him  and  it ;  but  there  was  a  serious  danger 
that  was  solely  averted  by  the  circumstance  that  Spike  was  so 
earnestly  dilating  on  -some  subject  to  Don  Juan,  as  to  look  only 
at  that  gentleman's  face.  A  minute  later  they  were  all  in  the 
yawl,  which  pulled  rapidly  towards  the  brig. 

Don  Juan  Montefalderon  was  not  long  absent.  Ten  minutes 
sufficed  for  the  boat  to  reach  the  Swash,  for  him  to  obtain  his 
cloak,  and  to  return  to  the  islet  alone,  no  one  in  the  vessel  feel- 
ing a  desire  to  iuterfere  with  his  imaginary  prayers.  As  for  the 
people,  it  was  not  probable  that  one  in  the  brig  could  have  been 
aiduced  to  accompany  him  to  the  graves  at  that  hour;  though 
everybody  but  Josh  had  turned  in,  as  he  informed  Mulford,  to 
catch  short  naps  previously  to  the  hour  of  getting  the  brig 
under  way.  As  for  the  steward,  he  had  been  placed  on  the 
look-out  as  the  greatest  idler  on  board.  All  this  was  exceed- 
ingly favorable  to  Jack  Tier's  project,  since  Josh  was  alreadv 


JACK     TIER.  391 

in  the  secret  of  his  absence,  and  would  not  be  likely  to  betray 
his  return.  After  a  brief  consultation,  it  was  agreed  to  wait 
half  an  hour  or  an  hour,  in  order  to  let  the  sleepers  lose  all 
consciousness,  when  Don  Juan  proposed  returning  to  the  vessel 
with  his  new  companion. 

The  thirty  or  forty  minutes  that  succeeded  were  passed  in 
general  conversation.  On  this  occasion  the  Senor  Montefalderon 
spoke  more  freely  than  he  had  yet  done  of  recent  events.  He 
let  it  be  plainly  seen  how  much  he  despised  Spike,  and  how 
irksome  to  him  was  the  intercourse  he  was  obliged  to  maintain, 
and  to  which  he  only  submitted  through  a  sense  of  duty.  The 
money  known  to  be  in  the  schooner  was  of  a  larger  amount 
than  had  been  supposed ;  and  every  dollar  was  so  important  to 
Mexico,  at  that  moment,  that  he  did  not  like  to  abandon  it, 
else,  did  he  declare,  that  he  would  quit  the  brig  at  once,  and 
share  in  the  fortunes  of  Harry  and  Rose.  He  courteously  ex 
pressed  his  best  wishes  for  the  happiness  of  the  young  couple, 
and  delicately  intimated  that,  under  the  circumstances,  he  sup- 
posed that  they  would  be  united  as  soon  as  they  could  reach  a 
place  where  the  marriage  rite  could  be  celebrated.  This  was 
said  in  the  most  judicious  way  possible ;  so  delicately  as  not 
to  wound  any  one's  feelings,  and  in  a  way  to  cause  it  to  re- 
semble the  announcement  of  an  expectation,  rather  than  the 
piece  of-  paternal  advice  for  which  it  was  really  intended. 
Harry  was  delighted  with  this  suggestion  of  his  Mexican 
friend — the  most  loyal  American  may  still  have  a  sincere  friend 
of  Mexican  birth  and  Mexican  feelings,  too — since  it  favored 
not  only  his  secret  wishes,  but  his  secret  expectations  also. 

At  the  appointed  moment,  Don  Juan  Montefalderon  and 
Jack  Tier  took  their  leave  of  the  two  they  left  behind  them. 
Rose  manifested  what  to  Harry  seemed  a  strange  reluctance 
to  part  with  the  little  steward  ;  but  Tier  was  bent  on  profiting 
by  this  excellent  opportunity  to  get  back  to  the  brig.  They 
went,  accordingly,  and  the  anxious  listeners,  who  watched  the 
slightest  movement  of  the  yawl,  from  the  shore,  had  reason  tn 


392  JACK      TIEK. 

believe  that  Jack  was  smuggled  in  without  detection.  They 
heard  the  familiar  sound  of  the  oar  falling  in  the  boat,  and 
Mulford  said  that  Josh's  voice  might  be  distinguished,  answering 
to  a  call  from  Don  Juan.  No  noise  or  clamor  was  heard,  such 
as  Spike  would  certainly  have  made,  had  he  detected  the  de- 
ception that  had  been  practised  on  himself. 

Harry  and  Rose  were  now  alone.  The  former  suggested 
that  the  latter  should  take  possession  of  one  of  the  little  bed- 
rooms that  are  usually  to  be  found  in  American  dwellings  of  the 
dimensions  and  humble  character  of  the  lighthouse  abode, 
while  he  kept  watch  until  the  brig  should  sail.  Until  Spike 
was  fairly  off,  he  would  not  trust  himself  to  sleep ;  but  there 
was  no  sufficient  reason  why  Rose  should  not  endeavor  to  repair 
the  evil  of  a  broken  night's  rest,  like  that  which  had  been 
passed  in  the  boat.  With  this  understanding,  then,  our  heroine 
took  possession  of  her  little  apartment,  where  she  threw  her- 
self on  the  bed  in  her  clothes,  while  Mulford  walked  out  into 
the  air,  as  the  most  effective  means  of  helping  to  keep  his  eyes 
open. 

It  was  now  some  time  past  ten,  and  before  eleven  the  moon 
would  rise.  The  mate  consequently  knew  that  his  watch  could 
not  be  long  hefore  Spike  would  quit  the  neighborhood — a  cir- 
cumstance pregnant  with  immense  relief  to  him,  at  least.  So 
long  as  that  unscrupulous,  and  now  nearly  desperate  man,  re- 
mained anywhere  near  Rose,  he  felt  that  she  could  not  be  safe ; 
and  as  he  paced  the  sands,  on  the  off  or  outer  side  of  the  islet, 
in  order  to  be  heyond  the  influence  of  the  light  in  the  lantern, 
his  eye  was  scarcely  a  moment  taken  away  from  the.  Swash,  so 
impatiently  and  anxiously  did  he  wait  for  the  signs  of  some 
movement  on  board  her. 

The  moon  rose,  and  Mulford  heard  the  well-known  raps  on 
the  booby-hatch,  which  precedes  the  call  of  "  all  hands,"  on 
board  a  merchantman.  "  All  hands  up  anchor,  ahoy  !"  suc- 
ceeded, and  in  less  than  five  minutes  the  bustle  on  board  the 
brig  announced  the  fact,  that  her  people  were  "getting  the 


JACK     TIER.  393 

anchor."  By  this  time  it  had  got  to  be  so  light  that  the  mate 
deemed  it  prudent  to  return  to  the  house,  in  order  that  he 
might  conceal  his  person  within  its  shadows.  Awake  Rose  he 
would  not,  though  he  knew  she  would  witness  the  departure 
of  the  Swash  with  a  satisfaction  little  short  of  his  own.  lie 
thought  he  would  wait,  that  when  he  did  speak  to  her  at  all, 
it  might  be  to  announce  their  entire  safety.  As  regarded  the 
aunt,  Rose  was  much  relieved  on  her  account,  by  the  knowledge 
that  Jack  Tier  would  not  fail  to  let  Mrs.  Budd  know  every 
thing  connected  with  her  own  situation  and  prospects.  The 
desertion  of  Jack,  after  coming  so  far  with  her,  had  pained  our 
heroine  in  a  way  we  cannot  at  present  explain ;  but  go  he  would, 
probably  feeling  assured  there  was  no  longer  any  necessity  for 
his  continuance  with  the  lovers,  in  order  to  prevail  on  Rose  to 
escape  from  Spike. 

The  Swash  was  not  long  in  getting  her  ground-tackle,  and 
the  brig  was  soon  seen  with  her  topsail  aback,  waiting  to  cat 
the  anchor.  This  done,  the  yards  swung  round,  and  the  topsail 
filled.  It  was  blowing  just  a  good  breeze  for  such  a  craft  to 
carry  whole  sail  on  a  bowline  with,  and  away  the  light  and 
active  craft  started,  like  the  racer  that  is  galloping  for  daily 
exercise.  Of  course  there  were  several  passages  by  which  a 
vessel  might  quit  the  group  of  islets,  some  being  larger  and 
some  smaller,  but  all  having  sufficient  water  for  a  brigautiue 
of  the  Molly's  draught.  Determined  not  to  lose  an  inch  of 
distance  unnecessarily,  Spike  luffed  close  up  to  the  wind,  making 
an  effort  to  pass  out  to  windward  of  the  light.  In  order  to  do 
this,  however,  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  make  two  short 
tacks  within  the  haven,  which  brought  him  far  enough  to  the 
southward  and  eastward  to  effect  his  purpose.  "While  this  was 
doing,  the  mate,  who  perfectly  understood  the  object  of  the 
manoeuvres,  passed  to  the  side  of  the  lighthouse  that  was  op- 
posite to  that  on  which  the  dwelling  was  placed,  with  a  view 
to  get  a  better  sight  of  the  vessel  as  she  stood  out  to  sea.  In 
order  to  do  this,  however,  it  was  necessary  for  the  young  man 


394  JACK     TIER. 

to  pass  through  a  broad  bit  of  moonlight :  but  he  trusted  for 
his  not  being  seen  to  the  active  manner  in  which  all  hands 
were  employed  on  board  the  vessel.  It  would  seem  that,  in 
this  respect,  Mulford  trusted  without  his  host,  for  as  the  vessel 
drew  near,  he  perceived  that  six  or  eight  figures  were  on  the 
guns  of  the  Swash,  or  in  her  rigging,  gesticulating  eagerly,  and 
seemingly  pointing  to  the  very  spot  where  he  stood.  When 
the  brig  got  fairly  abeam  of  the  light,  she  would  not  be  a  hun- 
dred yards  distant  from  it ;  and  fearful  to  complete  the  exposure 
of  his  person,  which  he  had  so  inadvertently  and  unexpectedly 
commenced,  our  mate  drew  up  close  to  the  wall  of  the  light- 
house, against  which  he  sustained  himself  in  a  position  as  im- 
movable as  possible.  This  movement  had  been  seen  by  a  single 
seaman  on  board  the  Swash,  and  the  man  happened  to  be  one 
of  those  who  had  landed  with  Spike  only  two  hours  before. 
His  name  was  Barlow. 

"  Captain-  Spike,  sir,"  called  out  Barlow,  who  was  coiling  up 
rigging  on  the  forecastle,  and  was  consequently  obliged  to  call 
out  so  loud  as  to  be  heard  by  all  on  board,  "  yonder  is  a  man 
at  the  foot  of  the  lighthouse." 

By  this  time,  the  moon  coming  out  bright  through  an  open- 
ing in  the  clouds,  Mulford  had  become  conscious  of  the  risk  he 
ran,  and  was  drawn  up,  as  immovable  as  the  pile  itself,  against 
the  stones  of  the  lighthouse.  Such  an  announcement  brought 
everybody  to  leeward,  and  every  head  over  the  bulwarks. 
Spike  himself  sprang  into  the  lee  main-chains,  where  his  view 
was  unobstructed,  and  where  Mulford  saw  and  recognized  him, 
even  better  than  he  was  seen  and  recognized  in  his  own  pe:> 
son.     All  this  time  the  brig  was  moving  ahead. 

"  A  man,  Barlow  !"  exclaimed  Spike,  in  the  way  one  a  little 
bewildered  by  an  announcement  expresses  his  surprise.  "  A 
man  !  that  can  never  be.  There  is  no  one  at  the  lighthouse, 
yon  know." 

"  There  he  stands,  sir,  with  his  back  to  the  tower,  and  his 
face  this  way.      His   dark   figure   against  the    whitewashed 


JACK     TIER.  3lJ6 

stones  is  plain  enough  to  be  seen.  Living,  or  dead,  sir,  that  is 
the  mate !" 

"  Living  it  cannot  be,"  answered  Spike,  though  he  gulped  at 
the  words  the  next  moment. 

A  general  exclamation  now  showed  that  everybody  recog- 
nized the  mate,  whose  figure,  stature,  dress,  and  even  features, 
were  by  this  time  all  tolerably  distinct.  The  fixed  attitude, 
however,  the  immovable  statue-like  rigidity  of  the  form,  and 
all  the  other  known  circumstances  of  Harry's  case,  united  to 
produce  a  common  and  simultaneous  impression  among  the 
superstitious  mariners,  that  what  they  saw  was  but  the  ghostly 
shadow  of  one  lately  departed  to  the  world  of  spirits.  Even 
Spike  was  not  free  from  this  illusion,  and  his  knees  shook  be- 
neath him,  thera  where  he  stood,  in  the  channels  of  a  vessel 
that  he  had  handled  like  a  top  in  so  many  gales  and  tempests. 
AVith  him,  however,  the  illusion  was  neither  absolute  nor  last- 
ing. A  second  thought  told  him  it  could  scarcely  be  so,  and 
then  he  found  his  voice.  By  this  time  the  brig  was  nearly 
abreast  of  where  Harry  stood. 

"  You,  Josh !"  cried  out  Spike,  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  loud 
enough  to  startle  even  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy  in  their  berths. 

"  Lor'  help  us  all !"  answered  the  negro,  "  what  will  come 
next  t'ing  aboard  dis  wessel  !     Here  I  be,  sir." 

"  Pass  the  fowling-piece  out  of  my  stateroom.  Both  barrels 
are  loaded  with  ball;  I'll  try  him,  though  the  bullets  are  only 
lead." 

A  common  exclamation  of  dissatisfaction  escaped  the  men, 
while  Josh  was  obeying  the  order.  "  It's  no  use."  "  You 
never  can  hurt  one  of  them  things."  "  Something  will  befall 
the  brig  on  account  of  this,"  and  "  It's  the  mate's  sperit,  and 
sperits  can't  be  harmed  by  lead  or  iron,"  were  the  sort  of 
remarks  made  by  the  seamen,  during  the  short  interval  be- 
tween the  issuing  the  order  for  the  fowling-piece  and  its  exe- 
cution. 

"  There  'tis,  Cap'in  Spike,"  said  Josh,  passing  the  piece  up 


39G  JACK     TIER. 

through  the  rigging;  "but  'twill  no  more  shoot  thai  thing, 
than  one  of  our  carronades  would  blow  up  Gibraltar." 

By  this  time  Spike  was  very  determined,  his  lips  being  com- 
pressed and  his  teeth  set,  as  he  took  the  gun  and  cocked  it. 
Then  he  hailed.  As  all  that  passed  occurred,  as  it  might  be, 
at  once,  the  brig  even  at  that  moment  was  little  more  than 
abreast  of  the  immovable  mate,  and  about  eighty  yards  from 
him. 

"  Lighthouse,  there  !"  cried  Spike — "  Living  or  dead,  answer, 
or  I  fire." 

No  answer  came,  and  no  motion  appeared  in  the  dark  figure 
that  was  now  very  plainly  visible,  under  a  bright  moon,  drawn 
in  high  relief  against  the  glittering  white  of  the  tower.  Spike 
dropped  the  muzzle  to  its  aim,  and  fired. 

So  intense  was  the  attention  of  all  in  the  Swash,  that  a  wink 
of  Harry's  could  almost  have  been  seen,  had  he  betrayed  even 
that  slight  sign  of  human  infirmity  at  the  flash  and  the  report. 
The  ball  was  flattened  against  a  stone  of  the  building,  within  a 
foot  of  the  mate's  body  ;  but  he  did  not  stir.  All  depended 
now  On  his  perfect  immovability,  as  he  well  knew  ;  and  he  so 
far  commanded  himself,  as  to  remain  rigid  as  if  of  stone  himself. 

"  There  !  one  can  see  how  it  is — no  life  in  that  being,"  said 
one.  "  I  know'd  how  it  would  end,"  added  another.  ''  Nothing 
but  silver,  and  that  cast  on  purpose,  will  ever  lay  it,"  continued 
a  third.  But  Spike  disregarded  all.  This  time  he  was  re- 
solved that  his  aim  should  be  better,  and  he  was  inveterately 
deliberate  in  getting  it.  Just  as  he  pulled  the  trigger,  how- 
ever, Don  Juan  Montefalderon  touched  his  elbow,  the  piece 
was  fired,  and  there  stood  the  immovable  figure  as  before,  fixed 
against  the  tower.  Spike  was  turning  angrily  to  chide  his 
Mexican  friend  for  deranging  his  aim,  when  the  report  of  an 
answering  musket  came  back  like  an  echo.  Every  eye  was 
turned  towards  the  figure,  but  it  moved  not.  Then  the  hum- 
ming sound  of  an  advancing  ball  was  heard,  and  a  bullet  passed, 
whistling  hoarsely  through  the  rigging,  and  fell  some  distance 


JACK      TIER.  397 

to  windward.  Every  head  disappeared  below  the  bulwarks. 
Even  Spike  was  so  far  astonished  as  to  spring  in  upon  deck, 
and,  for  a  single  instant,  not  a  man  was  to  be  seen  above  the 
monkey-rail  of  the  brig.  Then  Spike  recovered  himself,  and 
jumped  upon  a  gun.  His  first  look  was  towards  the  lighthouse, 
now  on  the  vessel's  lee-quarter ;  but  the  spot  where  had  so 
lately  been  seen  the  form  of  Mulford,  showed  nothing  but  the 
glittering  brightness  of  the  whitewashed  stones  ! 

The  reader  will  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  all  these 
events  produced  a  strange  and  deep  impression  on  board  the 
Molly  Swash.  The  few  who  might  have  thrown  a  little  light 
on  the  matter  were  discreetly  silent,  while  all  that  portion  of 
the  crew  which  was  in  the  dark,  firmly  believed  that  the  spirit 
of  the  murdered  mate  was  visiting  them,  in  order  to  avenge 
the  wrongs  inflicted  on  it  in  the  flesh.  The  superstition  of 
sailors  is  as  deep  as  it  is  general.  All  those  of  the  Molly,  too, 
were  salts  of  the  old  school,  sea-dogs  of  a  past  generation,  prop- 
erly speaking,  and  mariners  who  had  got  their  notions  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century,  when  the  spirit  of  progress  was  less 
active  than  it  is  at  present. 

Spike  himself  might  have  had  other  misgivings,  and  believed 
that  he  had  seen  the  living  form  of  his  intended  victim,  but  for 
the  extraordinary  and  ghost-like  echo  of  his  last  discharge. 
There  was  nothing  visible,  or  intelligible,  from  which  that  fire 
could  have  come,  and  he  was  perfectly  bewildered  by  the  whole 
occurrence.  An  intention  to  round-to,  as  soon  as  through  the 
passage,  down  boat  and  land,  which  had  been  promptly  con- 
ceived when  he  found  that  his  first  aim  had  failed,  was  as  sud- 
denly abandoned,  and  he  gave  the  command  to  "  board  fore- 
tack  ;"  immediately  after,  his  call  was  to  "  pack  on  the  brig," 
and  not  without  a  little  tremor  in  his  voice,  as  soon  as  he  per- 
ceived that  the  figure  had  vanished.  The  crew  was"  not  slow 
to  obey  these  orders,  and  in  ten  minutes,  the  Swash  was  a  mile 
from  the  light,  standing  to  the  northward  and  eastward,  under 
a  press  of  canvas,  and  with  a  freshening  breeze. 


398  JACK     TIER. 

To  return  to  the  islets.  Harry,  from  the  first,  had  seen  that 
every  thing  depended  on  his  remaining  motionless.  As  the 
people  of  the  brig  were  partly  in  shadow,  he  could  not,  and 
did  not,  fully  understand  how  completely  he  was  himself  ex- 
posed, in  consequence  of  the  brightness  of  all  around  him,  and 
he  had  at  first  hoped  to  be  mistaken  for  some  accidental  re- 
semblance to  a  man.  His  nerves  were  well  tried  by  the  use 
of  the  fowling-piece,  but  they  proved  equal  to  the  necessities 
of  the  occasion.  But,  when  an  answering  report  came  from 
the  rear,  or  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  islet,  he  darted  round 
the  tower,  as  much  taken  by  surprise,  and  overcome  by  wonder, 
as  any  one  else  who  heard  it.  It  was  this  rapid  movement 
which  caused  his  flight  to  be  unnoticed,  all  the  men  of  the 
brig  dodging  below  their  own  bulwarks  at  that  precise  instant. 

As  the  lighthouse  was  now  between  the  mate  and  the  brig, 
he  had  no  longer  any  motive  for  trying  to  conceal  himself. 
His  first  thought  was  of  Rose,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  for 
some  little  time  he  fancied  that  she  had  found  a  musket  in  the 
dwelling,  and  discharged  it,  in  order  to  aid  his  escape.  The 
events  had  passed  so  swiftly,  that  there  was  no  time  for  the 
cool  consideration  of  any  thing,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
some  extravagances  mingled  with  the  first  surmises  of  all 
these. 

On  reaching  the  door  of  the  house,  therefore,  Harry  was  by 
no  means  surprised  at  seeing  Rose  standing  in  it,  gazing  at  the 
swiftly  receding  brigantine.  He  even  looked  for  the  musket, 
expecting  to  see  it  lying  at  her  feet,  or  leaning  against  the  wall 
of  the  building.  Rose,  however,  was  entirely  unarmed,  and 
as  dependent  on  him  for  support,  as  when  he  had  parted  from 
her,  an  hour  or  two  before. 

"  Where  did  you  find  that  musket,  Rose,  and  what  have  you 
done  with-  it  ?"  inquired  Harry,  as  soon  as  he  had  looked  in 
every  place  he  thought  likely  to  hold  such  an  implement. 

"  Musket,  Harry  !  I  have  had  no  musket,  though  the  repor' 
of  firearms,  near  by,  awoke  me  from  a  sweet  sleep." 


JACK     TIER.  oDO 

"  Is  tliis  possible  !  I  had  imprudently  trusted  myself  on  the 
other  side  of  the  lighthouse,  while  the  moon  was  behind 
clouds,  and  when  they  broke  suddenly  away,  its  light  betrayed 
me  to  those  on  board  the  brig.  Spike  fired  at  me  twice,  with- 
out injuring  me  ;  when,  to  my  astonishment,  an  answering  re- 
port was  heard  from  the  islet.  What  is  more,  the  piece  was 
charged  with  a  ball-cartridge,  for  I  heard  the  whistling  of  the 
bullet  as  it  passed  on  its  way  to  the  brig." 

"  And  you  supposed  I  had  fired  that  musket?" 

"  Whom  else  could  I  suppose  had  done  it  ?  You  are  not  a 
very  likely  person  to  do  such  a  thing,  I  will  own,  my  love ;  but 
there  are  none  but  us  two  here." 

"  It  must  be  Jack  Tier,"  exclaimed  Rose,  suddenly. 

"  That  is  impossible,  since  he  has  left  us." 

"  One  never  knows.  Jack  understood  how  anxious  I  was  to 
retain  him  with  us,  and  he  is  so  capricious  and  full  of  schemes, 
that  he  may  have  contrived  to  get  out  of  the  brig,  as  artfully  as 
he  got  on  board  her." 

"  If  Jack  Tier  be  actually  on  this  islet,  I  shall  set  him  down 
as  little  else  than  a  conjuror." 

"  Ilist !"  interrupted  Rose,  "  what  noise  is  that  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  wharf?     It  sounds  like  an  oar  falling  in  a  boat." 

Mulford  heard  that  well-known  sound,  as  well  as  his  com- 
panion, and,  followed  by  Rose,  he  passed  swiftly  through  the 
house,  coming  out  at  the  front,  next  the  wharf.  The  moon 
was  still  shining  bright,  and  the  mystery  of  the  echoing  report, 
and  answering  shot,  was  immediately  explained.  A  large  boat, 
one  that  pulled  ten  oars,  at  least,  was  just  coming  up  to  the 
end  of  the  wharf,  and  the  manner  in  which  its  oars  were  un- 
shipped and  tossed,  announced  to  the  mate  that  the  crew  were 
man-of-war's  men.     He  walked  hastily  forward  to  meet  them. 

Three  officers  first  left  the  boat  together.  The  gold  bands 
of  their  caps  showed  that  they  belonged  to  the  quarter-deck,  a 
fact  that  the  light  of  the  moon  made  apparent  at  once,  though 
it  was  not  strong  enough  to  render  features  distinct.     As  Mul- 


*00  JACK     TIER. 

ford  continued  to  advance,  however,  the  three  officers  saluted 
him. 

"  I  see  you  have  got  the  light  under  way  once  more,"  ob- 
served the  leader  of  the  party.  "  Last  night  it  was  as  dark  as 
Erebus  in  your  lantern." 

"  The  lighthouse  keeper  and  his  assistant  have  both  been 
drowned,"  answered  Mulford.  "  The  lamps  have  been  lit  to- 
night by  the  people  of  the  brig  which  has  just  gone  out." 

"  Pray,  sir,  what  brig  may  that  be  ?" 

"  The  Molly  Swash,  of  New  York  ;  a  craft  that  I  lately  be- 
longed to  myself,  but  which  I  have  left  on  account  of  her  evil 
doings." 

"  The  Molly  Swash,  Stephen  Spike  master  and  owner,  bound 
to  Key  West  and  a  market,  with  a  cargo  of  eight  hundred 
barrels  of  flour,  and  that  of  a  quality  so  lively  and  pungent 
that  it  explodes  like  gunpowder !  I  beg  your  pardon,  Mr. 
Mate,  for  not  recognizing  you  sooner.  Have  you  forgotten  the 
Poughkeepsie,  Captain  Mull,  and  her  far-reaching  Paixhans  ?" 

"I  ought  to  ask  your  pardon,  Mr.  Wallace,  for  not  recogniz- 
ing you  sooner,  too.  But  one  does  not  distinguish  well  by 
moonlight.  I  am  delighted  to  see  you,  sir,  and  now  hope  that, 
with  my  assistance,  a  stop  can  be  put  to  the  career  of  the 
brig." 

"  What,  Mr.  Mate,  do  you  turn  against  your  craft  ?"  said 
Wallace,  under  the  impulsive  feeling  which  induces  all  loyal 
men  to  have  a  distaste  for  treachery  of  every  sort.  "  The  sea- 
man should  love  the  very  planks  of  his  vessel." 

"  I  fully  understand  you,  Mr.  Wallace,  and  will  own  that 
for  a  long  time,  I  was  tied  to  rascality  by  the  opinions  to  which 
you  allude.  But,  when  you  come  to  hear  my  explanation,  I 
do  not  fear  your  judgment  in  the  least." 

Mulford  now  led  the  way  into  the  house,  whither  Rose  had 
already  retreated,  and  where  she  had  lighted  candles,  and 
made  other  womanly  arrangements  for  receiving  her  guests. 
Ai  Harry's  suggestion,  some  of  the  soup  was  placed  over  coals, 


JACK     TIER.  401 

to  warm  up  for  the  party,  and  our  heroine  made  her  prepara- 
tions to  comfort  them  also  with  a  cup  of  tea.  While  she  was 
thus  employed,  Mulford  gave  the  whole  history  of  his  connec- 
tion with  the  brig,  his  indisposition  to  quit  the  latter,  the  full 
exposure  of  Spike's  treason,  his  own  desertion,  if  desertion  it 
could  be  called,  the  loss  of  the  schooner,  and  his  abandonment 
on  the  rock,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  finally  re- 
lieved. It  was  scarcely  possible  to  relate  all  these  matters, 
and  altogether  avoid  allusions  to  the  schemes  of  Spike  in  con- 
nection with  Rose,  and  the  relation  in  which  our  young  man 
himself  stood  towards  her.  Although  Mulford  touched  on 
these  points  with  great  delicacy,  it  was  as  a  seaman  talking  to 
seamen,  and  he  could  not  entirely  throw  aside  the  frankness 
of  the  profession.  Ashore,  men  live  in  the  privacy  of  their 
own  domestic  circles,  and  their  secrets,  and  secret  thoughts, 
are  "family  secrets,"  of  which  it  has  passed  into  a  proverb  to 
say,  that  there  are  always  some,  even  in  the  best  of  these  com- 
munities. On  shipboard,  or  in  the  camp,  it  is  very  different. 
The  close  contact  in  which  men  are  brought  with  each  other, 
the  necessity  that  exists  for  opening  the  heart  and  expanding 
the  charities,  gets  in  time  to  influence  the  whole  character,  and 
a  certain  degree  of  frankness  and  simplicity  takes  the  place  of 
the  reserve  and  acting  that  might  have  been  quickened  in  the 
same  individual,  under  a  different  system  of  schooling.  But 
Mulford  was  frank  by  nature,  as  veil  as  by  his  sea-education, 
and  his  companions  on  this  occasion  were  pretty  well  possessed 
of  all  his  wishes  and  plans,  in  reference  to  Rose,  even  to  his 
hope  of  falling  in  with  the  chaplain  of  the  Poughkeepsie,  by 
the  time  his  story  was  all  told.  The  fact  that  Rose  was  occu- 
pied in  another  room,  most  of  the  time,  had  made  these  ex- 
planations all  the  easier,  and  spared  her  many  a  blush.  As  for 
the  man-of-war's  men,  they  listened  to  the  tale,  with  manly  in- 
terest and  a  generous  sympathy. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  your  explanation,  Mr.  Mate,"  said  Wal 
lace,  cordially,  as  soon  as  Harry  had  done,  "  and  there's  my 


402  JACK     TIER. 

hand,  in  proof  that  I  approve  of  your  course.  I  own  to  a 
radical  dislike  of  a  turncoat,  or  a  traitor  to  his  craft,  Brother 
Ilollins" — looking  at  the  elder  of  his  two  companions,  one  of 
whom  was  the  midshipman  who  had  originally  accompanied 
him  on  board  the  Swash — "  and  am  glad  to  find  that  our  friend 
Mulford  here  is  neither.  A  true-hearted  sailor  can  be  ex- 
cused for  deserting  even  his  own  ship,  under  such  circum- 
stances." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  even  this  little  concession  from  you, 
Wallace,"  answered  Ilollins,  good-naturedly,  aud  speaking  with 
a  mild  expression  of  benevolence,  on  a  very  calm  and  thought- 
ful countenance.  "  Your  mess  is  as  heterodox  as  any  I  ever 
sailed  with,  on  the  subject  of  our  duties,  in  this  respect." 

"  I  hold  it  to  be  a  sailor's  duty  to  stick  by  his  ship,  reverend 
and  clear  sir." 

This  mode  of  address,  which  was  used  by  the  "  ship's  gentle- 
man" in  the  cant  of  the  wardroom,  as  a  pleasantry  of  an  old 
shipmate,  for  the  two  had  long  sailed  together  in  other  vessels, 
at  once  announced  to  Harry  that  he  saw  the  very  chaplain  for 
whose  presence  he  had  been  so  anxiously  wishing.  The  "  reve- 
rend and  dear  sir"  smiled  at  the  sally  of  his  friend,  a  sort  of 
thing  to  which  he  was  very  well  accustomed,  but  he  answered 
with  a  gravity  and  point  that,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  he  thought 
befitting  his  holy  office. 

It  may  be  well  to  remark  here,  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ilollins 
was  not  one  of  the  "  launch'd  chaplains,"  that  used  to  do  dis- 
credit to  the  navy  of  this  country,  or  a  layman  dubbed  with 
such  a  title,  and  rated  that  he  might  get  the  pay  and  become 
a  boon  companion  of  the  captain,  at  the  table  and  in  his  frolics 
ashore.  Those  days  are  gone  by,  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
are  now  really  employed  to  care  for  the  souls  of  the  poor  sail- 
ors, who  so  long  have  been  treated  by  others,  and  have  treated 
themselves,  indeed,  as  if  they  were  beings  without  souls,  alto- 
gether. In  these  particulars,  the  world  has  certainly  advanced, 
though  the  wise  and  the  good,  in  looking  around  them,  may 


JACK     TIER.  403 

feel  more  cause  for  astonishment  in  contemplating  what  it  once 
was,  than  to  rejoice  in  what  it  actually  is.  But  intellect  has 
certainly  improved  in  the  aggregate,  if  not  in  its  especial  dis- 
pensations, and  men  will  not  now  submit  to  abuses  that,  within 
the  recollections  of  a  generation,  they  even  cherished.  In 
reference  to  the  more  intellectual  appointments  of  a  ship  of 
war,  the  commander  excepted,  for  we  contend  he  who  directs 
all,  ought  to  possess  the  most  capacity,  but,  in  reference  to 
what  are  ordinarily  believed  to  be  the  more  intellectual  ap- 
pointments of  a  vessel  of  war,  the  surgeon  and  the  chaplain, 
we  well  recollect  opinions  that  were  expressed  to  us,  many 
years  since,  by  two  officers  of  the  highest  rank  known  to  the 
service.  "When  I  first  entered  the  navy,"  said  one  of  these 
old  Benbows,  "  if  I  had  occasion  for  the  amputation  of  a  leg, 
and  the  question  lay  between  the  carpenter  and  the  doctor, 

d e,  but  I  would  have  tried  the  carpenter  first,  for  I  felt 

pretty  certain  he  would  have  been  the  most  likely  to  get 
through  with  the  job."  "  In  old  times,"  said  the  other,  "  when 
a  chaplain  joined  a  ship,  the  question  immediately  arose, 
whether  the  mess  were  to  convert  the  chaplain,  or  the  chaplain 
the  mess;  and  the  mess  generally  got  the  best  of  it."  There 
was  very  little  exaggeration  in  either  of  these  opinions.  But, 
happily,  all  this  is  changed  vastly  for  the  better,  and  a  navy- 
surgeon  is  necessarily  a  man  of  education  and  experience ;  in 
very  many  instances,  men  of  higli  talents  are  to  be  found 
among  them ;  while  chaplains  can  do  something  better  than 
play  at  backgammon,  eat  terrapins,  when  in  what  may  be 
called  terrapin-ports,  and  drink  brandy  and  water,  or  pure  Bob 
Smith* 

"  It  is  a  great  mistake,  Wallace,  to  fancy  that  the  highest 
duty  a  man  owes,  is  either  to  his  ship  or  to  his  country,"  ob- 
served the  Rev.  Mr.  Hollins,  quietly.  "The  highest  duty  ot 
each  and  all  of  us,  is  to  God  ;  and  whatever  conflicts  with  that 

*  In  the  palmy  clays  of  the  service,  when  Robert  Smith  was  so  long  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  the  ship's  whisky  went  by  this  familiar  sobriquet. 


104  JACK     TIER. 

duty,  must  be  avoided  as  a  transgression  of  his  laws,  and  con- 
sequently as  sin." 

"  You  surprise  me,  reverend  and  dear  sir !  I  do  not  remem- 
ber ever  to  have  beard  you  broacb  such  opinions  before,  which 
might  be  interpreted  to  mean  that  a  fellow  might  be  disloyal 
to  his  flag." 

"Because  the  opinion  might  be  liable  to  misinterpretation. 
Still,  I  do  not  go  as  far  as  many  of  my  friends  on  this  subject. 
If  Decatur  ever  really  said,  '  Our  country,  right  or  wrong,'  he 
said  what  might  be  just  enough,  and  creditable  enough,  in  cer- 
tain cases,  and  taken  with  the  fair  limitations  that  he  probably 
intended  should  accompany  the  sentiment ;  but,  if  he  meant  it 
as  an  absolute  and  controlling  principle,  it  was  not  possible  to 
be  more  in  error.  In  this  last  sense,  such  a  rule  of  conduct 
might,  and  in  old  times  often  would,  have  justified  idolatry; 
nay,  it  is  a  species  of  idolatry  in  itself,  since  it  is  putting  coun- 
try before  God.  Sailors  may  not  always  be  able  to  make  the 
just  distinctions  in  these  cases,  but  the  quarter-dock  should  be 
so,  ^-reverend  and  dear  sir." 

Wallace  laughed,  and  then  he  turned  the  discourse  to  the 
subject  more  properly  before  them. 

"  I  understand  you  to  say,  Mr.  Mulford,"  he  remarked,  "that, 
in  your  opinion,  the  Swash  has  gone  to  try  to  raise  the  unfor- 
tunate Mexican  schooner,  a  second  time,  from  the  depths  of  the 
ocean  ?" 

"From  the  rock  on  which  she  lies.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, I  hardly  think  he  would  have  come  hither  for  the 
chain  and  cable,  unless  with  some  such  object.  We  know, 
moreover,  that  such  was  his  intention  when  we  left  the  brig." 

"  And  you  can  take  us  to  the  very  spot  where  that  wreck 
Les  ?" 

"  Without  any  difficulty.  Her  masts  are  partly  out  of  water, 
and  we  hung  on  to  them,  iu  our  boat,  no  later  than  last  night, 
or  this  morning  rather." 

"  So  far,  well.     Your  conduct  in  all  this  affair  will  be  duly 


JACK      T  I  E  K.  405 

appreciated,  and  Captain  Mull  will  not  fail  to  represent  it  in  a 
light  point  of  view  to  the  government." 

"  Where  is  the  ship,  sir  ?  I  looked  for  her  most  anxiously 
without' success,  last  evening;  nor  had  Jack  Tier,  the  little 
fellow  I  have  named  to  you,  any  better  luck;  though  I  sent 
him  aloft,  as  high  as  the  lantern  in  the  lighthouse,  for  that 
purpose." 

"The  ship  is  off  here  to  the  northward  and  westward,  some 
six  leagues  or  so.  At  sunset  she  may  have  been  a  little  farther. 
We  have  supposed  that  the  Swash  would  be  coming  back 
hither,  and  had  laid  a  trap  for  her,  which  came  very  near  tak- 
ing her  alive." 

"  What  is  the  trap  you  mean,  sir  ? — though  taking  Stephen 
Spike  alive,  is  sooner  said  than  done." 

"  Our  plan  has  been  to  catch  him  with  our  boats.  With 
the  greater  draught  of  water  of  the  Poughkeepsie,  and  the  heels 
of  your  brig,  sir,  a  regular  chase  about  these  reefs,  as  we  knew 
from  experience,  would  be  almost  hopeless.  It  was,  therefore, 
necessary  to  use  head-work,  and  some  man-of-war  traverses,  in 
order  to  lay  hold  of  him.  Yesterday  afternoon  we  hoisted  out 
three  cutters,  manned  them,  and  made  sail  in  them  all,  under 
our  luggs,  working  up  against  the  trades.  Each  boat  took  its 
own  course,  one  going  off  the  west  end  of  the  reef,  one  going 
more  to  the  eastward,  while  I  came  this  way,  to  look  in  at  the 
Dry  Tortugas.  Spike  will  be  lucky  if  he  do  not  tall  in  with 
our  third  cutter,  which  is  under  the  fourth  lieutenant,  should 
he  stand  on  far  on  the  same  tack  as  that  on  which  he  left  this 
place.  Let  him  try  his  fortune,  however.  As  for  our  boat,  as 
soon  as  I  saw  the  lamps  burning  iu  the  lantern,  I  made  the 
best  of  my  way  hither,  and  got  sight  of  the  brig,  just  as  she 
loosened  her  sails.  Then  I  took  in  my  own  luggs,  and  came 
on  with  the  oars.  Had  we  continued  under  our  canvas,  with 
this  breeze,  I  almost  think  we  might  have  overhauled  the 
rascal." 

"It  would  have  been  impossible,  sir.     The  moment  he  got 


406  JACK     TIER. 

a  sight  of  your  sails,  lie  would  have  been  off  in  a  contrary 
direction,  and  that  brig  really  seems  to  fly,  -whenever  there  is 
a  pressing  occasion  for  her  to  move.  You  did  the  wisest  thing 
you  could  have  done,  and  barely  missed  him,  as  it  was.  lie 
has  not  seen  you  at  all,  as  it  is,  and  will  be  all  the  less  on  his 
guard,  against  the  next  visit  from  the  ship." 

"  Not  seen  me  !  Why,  sir,  the  fellow  fired  at  us  twice  with 
a  musket ;  why  he  did  not  use  a  carronade,  is  more  than  I  can 

tell." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Wallace ;  those  two  shots  were  intended 
for  me,  though  I  now  fully  comprehend  why  you  answered 
them." 

"Answered  them!  yes,  indeed;  who  would  not  answer  such 
a  salute,  and  gun  for  gun,  if  he  had  a  chance  ?  I  certainly 
thought  he  was  firing  at  us,  and  having  a  musket  between  my 
legs,  I  let  fly  in  return,  and  even  the  chaplain  here  will  allow 
that  was  returning  'good  for  evil."  But  explain  your  mean- 
ing." 

Mulford  now  went  into  the  details  of  the  incidents  connected 
with  his  coming  into  the  moonlight,  at  the  foot  of  the  light- 
house. That  he  Avas  not  mistaken  as  to  the  party  for  whom 
the  shots  were  intended,  was  plain  enough  to  him,  from  the 
words  that  passed  aloud  among  the  people  of  the  Swash,  as 
well  as  from  the  circumstance  that  both  balls  struck  the  stones 
of  the  tower  quite  near  him.  This  statement  explained  every 
thing  to  Wallace,  who  now  fully  comprehended  the  cause  and 
motiv6  of  each  incident. 

It  was  now  near  eleven,  and  Rose  had  prepared  the  table 
for  supper.  The  gentlemen  of  the  Poughkeepsie  manifested 
great  interest  in  the  movements  of  the  Hebe-like  little  atten- 
dant who  was  caring  for  their  wants.  When  the  cloth  was  to 
he  laid,  the  midshipman  offered  his  assistance,  but  his  superior 
directed  him  to  send  a  hand  or  two  up  from  the  wharf,  where 
the  crew  of  the  cutter  were  lounging  or  sleeping  after  their 
cruise.     These  men  had  been  thought  of,  too;  and  a  vessel 


JACK     TIER.  407 

filled  with  smoking  soup  was  taken  to  them,  by  one  of  their 
own  number. 

The  supper  was  as  cheerful  as  it  was  excellent.  The  dry 
humor  of  Wallace,  the  mild  intelligence  of  the  chaplain,  the 
good  sense  of  Harry,  and  the  spirited  information  of  Hose,  con- 
tributed, each  in  its  particular  way,  to  make  the  meal  memorable 
in  more  senses  than  one.  The  laugh  came  easily  at  that  table, 
and  it  was  twelve  o'clock  before  the  party  thought  of  break- 
ing up. 

The  dispositions  for  the  night  were  soon  made.  Rose  re- 
turned to  her  little  room,  where  she  could  now  sleep  in  com- 
fort, and  without  apprehension.  The  gentlemen  made  the  best 
disposition  of  their  persons  that  circumstances  allowed ;  each 
finding  something  on  which  to  repose,  that  was  preferable  to  a 
plank.  As  for  the  men,  they  were  accustomed  to  hard  fare, 
and  enjoyed  their  present  good-luck,  to  the  top  of  their  bent. 
It  was  quite  late  before  they  had  done  "spinning  tbeir  yarns," 
and  "  cracking  their  jokes,"  around  the  pot  of  turtle-soup,  and 
the  can  of  grog  that  succeeded  it.  By  half  past  twelve,  how- 
ever, everybody  was  asleep. 

Mulford  was  the  first  person  afoot  the  following  morning. 
He  left  the  house  just  as  the  sun  rose,  and  perceiving  that  the 
"  coast  was  clear"  of  sharks,  he  threw  off  his  light  attire,  and 
plunged  into  the  sea.  Refreshed  with  this  indulgence,  he  was 
returning  towards  the  building,  when  he  met  the  chaplain  com- 
ing in  quest  of  him.  This  gentleman,  a  man  of  real  piety,  and 
of  great  discretion,  had  been  singularly  struck,  on  the  preceding 
night,  with  the  narrative  of  our  young  mate ;  and  he  had  not 
failed  to  note  the  allusions,  slight  as  they  were,  and  delicately 
put  as  they  had  been,  to  himself.  He  saw,  at  once,  the  pro 
priety  of  marrying  a  couple  so  situated,  and  now  sought  Harry, 
with  a  view  to  bring  about  so  desirable  an  event,  by  intimat- 
ing his  entire  willingness  to  officiate.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  say  that  very  few  words  were  wanting,  to  persuade  the  young 
man  to  fall  into  his  views;  and  as  to  Rose,  he  had  handed  her 


408  JACK     TIER. 

a  short  nole  on  the  same  subject,  which  he  Avas  of  opinion 
would  be  likely  to  bring  her  to  the  same  way  of  thinking. 

An  hour  later,  all  the  officers,  Harry  and  Rose,  were  assem- 
bled in  what  might  be  termed  the  lighthouse  parlor.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Hollins  had  neither  band,  gown,  nor  surplice;  but  he 
had  what  was  far  better,  feeling  and  piety.  Without  a  prayer- 
book  he  never  moved ;  and  he  read  the  marriage  ceremony 
with  a  solemnity  that  was  communicated  to  all  preseut.  The 
rino-  was  that  which  had  been  used  at  the  marriage  of  Rose's 
parents,  and  which  she  wore  habitually,  though  not  on  the  left 
hand.  In  a  word,  Harry  and  Rose  were  as  firmly  and  legally 
united,  on  that  solitary  and  almost  unknown  islet,  as  could 
have  been  the  case,  had  they  stood  up  before  the  altar  of 
mother  Trinity  itself,  with  a  bishop  to  officiate,  and  a  legion  of 
attendants.  After  the  compliments  which  succeeded  the  cere- 
mony, the  whole  party  sat  down  to  breakfast. 

If  the  supper  had  been  agreeable,  the  morning  meal  was  not 
less  so.  Rose  wTas  timid  and  blushing,  as  became  a  bride, 
though  she  could  not  but  feel  how  much  more  respectable  her 
position  became  under  the  protection  of  Harry  as  his  wife,  than 
it  had  been  while  she  was  only  his  betrothed.  The  most  deli- 
cate deportment,  on  the  part  of  her  companions,  soon  relieved 
her  embarrassment,  however-,  and  the  breakfast  passed  off  with- 
out cause  for  an  unhappy  moment. 

"The  ship's  standing  in  towards  the  light,  sir,"  reported  the 
cockswain  of  the  cutter,  as  the  party  was  still  lingering  around 
the  tabic,  as  if  unwilling  to  bring  so  pleasant  a  meal  to  a  close. 
'■*  Since  the  mist  has  broke  away,  wre  see  her,  sir,  even  to  her 
ports  and  dead-eyes." 

"In  that  case,  Sam,  she  can't  be  very  far  off,"  answered 
Wallace.  "  Ay,  there  goes  a  gun  from  her,  at  this  moment,  as 
much  as  to  say,  '  what  has  become  of  all  of  my  boats  ?'  Run 
down  and  let  off  a  musket ;  perhaps  she  will  make  out  to  hcai 
that,  as  we  must  be  rather  to  windward,  if  any  thing." 

The  signal  was  given  and  understood.     A  quarter  of  an  houi 


.1  AOK     TIER, 


409 


later,  the  Pouglikeepsie  began  to  shorten  sail.  Then  Wallace 
stationed  himself  in  the  cutter,  in  the  centre  of  one  of  the  pas 
sages,  signalling  the  ship  to  come  on.  Ten  minutes  later  stih, 
the  noble  craft  came  into  the  haven,  passing  the  still  burning 
light,  with  her  topsails  just  lifting;  and  making  a  graceful 
sweep  under  very  reduced  sail,  she  came  to  the  wind,  very  near 
the  spot  where  the  Swash  had  lain  only  ten  hours  before,  and 
dropped  an  anchor. 


18 


410  JACK     Tl  KB  . 


CHAPTER   XII L. 

"The  gull  has  found  her  place  on  shore; 
The  sun  gone  down  again  to  rest; 
And  all  is  still  but  ocean's  roar; 
There  stands  the  man  unbless'd. 
But  see,  he  moves — he  turns,  as  asking  where 
His  mates  1    Why  looks  he  with  that  piteous  stare  ?" 

Dana. 

Superstition  would  seem  to  be  a  consequence  of  a  state  of 
being,  in  which  so  much  is  shadowed  forth,  while  so  little  is 
accurately  known.  Our  far-reaching  thoughts  range  over  the 
vast  fields  of  created  things,  without  penetrating  to  the  secret 
cause  of  the  existence  of  even  a  blade  of  grass.  We  can  ana- 
lyze all  substances  that  are  brought  into  our  crucibles,  tell  their 
combinations  and  tendencies,  give  a  scientific  history  of  their 
formation,  so  far  as  it  is  connected  with  secondary  facts,  their 
properties,  and  their  uses ;  but  in  each  and  all,  there  is  a  latent 
natural  cause,  that  baffles  all  our  inquiries,  and  tells  us  that  we 
are  merely  men.  This  is  just  as  true  in  morals,  as  in  physics 
— no  man  living  being  equal  to  attaining  the  very  faith  that  is 
necessary  to  his  salvation,  without  the  special  aid  of  the  Spirit 
of  the  Godhead ;  and  even  with  that  mighty  support,  trusting 
implicitly  for  all  that  is  connected  with  a  future  that  we  are 
taught  to  believe  is  eternal,  to  "  the  substance  of  things  hoped 
for,  and  the  evidence  of  things  unseen?  In  a  word,  this  earth- 
ly probation  of  ours  was  intended  for  finite  beings,  in  the  sense 
of  our  present  existence,  leaving  far  more  to  be  conjectured, 
than  is  understood. 

T^norance   and   superstition   ever  bear  a  close,  and  even  a 


JACK     TIER.  411 

mathematical  relation  to  each  other.  The  degrees  of  the  one 
are  regulated  by  the  degrees  of  the  other.  He  who  knows  the 
least  believes  the  most ;  while  he  who  has  seen  the  most,  with- 
out the  intelligence  to  comprehend  that  which  he  has  seen, 
feels,  perhaps,  the  strongest  inclination  to  refer  those  things 
which  to  him  are  mysteries,  to  the  supernatural  and  marvel- 
lous. Sailors  have  been,  from  time  immemorial,  more  disposed 
than  men  of  their  class  on  the  land,  to  indulge  in  this  weak- 
ness, which  is  probably  heightened  by  the  circumstance  of  their 
living  constantly  and  vividly  in  the  presence  of  powers  that 
menace  equally  their  lives  and  their  means,  without  being  in 
any  manner  -subject  to  their  control. 

Spike,  for  a  seaman  of  his  degree  of  education,  was  not  partic- 
ularly addicted  to  the  weakness  to  which  we  have  just  alluded. 
Nevertheless,  he  was  not  altogether  free  from  it ;  and  recent  cir- 
cumstances contributed  to  dispose  him  so  much  the  more  to  admit 
a  feeling  which,  like  sin  itself,  is  ever  the  most  apt  to  insinuate 
itself  at  moments  of  extraordinary  moral  imbecility,  and  through 
the  openings  left  by  previous  transgression.  As  his  brig  stood 
off  from  the  light,  the  captain  paced  the  deck,  greatly  dis- 
turbed by  what  had  just  passed,  and  unable  to  account  for  it. 
The  boat  of  the  Poughkeepsie  was  entirely  concealed  by  the 
islet,  and  there  existing  no  obvious  motive  for  wishing  to  re- 
turn, in  order  to  come  at  the  truth,  not  a  thought  to  that 
effect,  for  one  moment,  crossed  the  mind  of  the  smuggler.  So 
far  from  this,  indeed,  were  his'wishes,  that  the  Molly  did  not 
seem  to  him  to  go  half  as  fast  as  usual,  in  his  keen  desire  to 
get  farther  and  farther  from  a  spot  where  such  strange  inci- 
dents had  occurred. 

As  for  the  men  forward,  no  argument  was  wanting  to  make 
them  believe  that  something  supernatural  had  just  passed  be- 
fore their  eyes.  It  was  known  to  them  all,  that  Mulford  had 
been  left  on  a  naked  rock,  some  thirty  miles  from  that  spot ; 
and  it  was  not  easy  to  understand  how  he  could  now  be  at  the 
Dry  Tortugas,  planted,  as  it  might  be,  on  purpose  to  show  him- 


412  JACK     TlEE. 

self  to  the  brig,  against  the  tower,  in  the  bright  moonlight, 
"  like  a  pictur'  hung  up  for  his  old  shipmates  to  look  at." 

Sombre  were  the  tales  that  were  related  that  night  among 
them,  many  of  which  related  to  the  sufferings  of  men  aban- 
doned on  desert  islands ;  and  all  of  which  bordered,  more  or 
less,  on  the  supernatural.  The  crew  connected  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  boat  with  Mulford's  apparition,  though  the  logical 
inference  would  have  been,  that  the  body  which  required  planks 
to  transport  it,  could  scarcely  be  classed  with  any  thing  of  the 
world  of  spirits.  The  links  in  arguments,  however,  are  seldom 
respected  by  the  illiterate  and  vulgar,  who  jump  to  their  con- 
clusions, in  cases  of  the  marvellous,  much  as  politicians  find  an 
expression  of  the  common  mind  in  the  prepared  opinions  of  the 
few  who  speak  for  them,  totally  disregarding  the  dissenting 
silence  of  the  million.  While  the  men  were  first  comparing 
their  opinions  on  that  which,  to  them,  seemed  to  be  so  extra- 
ordinary, the  Senor  Montefalderon  joined  the  captain  in  his 
walk,  and  dropped  into  a  discourse  touching  the  events  which 
had  attended  their  departure  from  the  haven  of  the  Dry  Tor- 
tugas. 

In  this  conversation,  Don  Juan  most  admirably  preserved 
his  countenance,  as  well  as  his  self-command,  effectually  pre- 
venting the  suspicion  of  any  knowledge  on  his  part  that  was 
not  common  to  them  both. 

"  You  did  leave  the  port  with  the  salutes  observed,"  the 
Mexican  commenced,  with  the  slightest  accent  of  a  foreigner, 
or  just  enough  to  show  that  he  was  not  speaking  in  his  mother- 
tongue  ;  "  salutes  paid  and  returned." 

"  Do  you  call  that' saluting,  Don  Wan  ?  To  me,  that  infer- 
nal  shot  sounded  more  like  an  echo  than  any  thing  else." 

"  And  to  what  do  you  ascribe  it,  Don  Esteban  ?" 

"I  wish  I  could  answer  that  question.  Sometimes  I  begin 
to  wish  I  had  not  left  my  mate  on  that  naked  rock." 

"  There  is  still  time  to  repair  the  last  wrong ;  we  shall  go 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  place  where  the  Senor  Enrique  was 


JACK      TIER.  413 

left ;  and  I  can  take  the  yawl,  with  two  men,  and  go  in  search 
of  him,  while  you  are  at  work  on  the  wreck." 

"  Do  you  believe  it  possible  that  he  can  be  still  there  ?"  de- 
manded Spike,  looking  suddenly  and  intently  at  his  companion, 
while  his  mind  was  strangely  agitated  between  hatted  and 
dread.  "  If  he  is  there,  who  and  what  was  he  that  we  all  saw 
so  plainly  at  the  foot  of  the  lighthouse  V 

"  How  should  he  have  left  the  rock  ?  He  was  without  food 
or  water ;  and  no  man,  in  all  his  vigor,  could  swim  this  dis- 
tance.    I  see  no  means  of  his  getting  here." 

"  Unless  some  wrecker  or  turtler  fell  in  with  him,  and  took 
him  off.  Ay,  ay,  Don  Wan ;  I  left  him  that  much  of  a  chance, 
at  least.     No  man  can  say  I  murdered  my  mate." 

"  I  am  not  aware,  Don  Esteban,  that  any  one  has  said  so 
hard  a  thing  of  you.  Stilly  we  have  seen  neither  wrecker  nor 
turtler  since  we  have  been  here ;  and  that  lessens  the  excellent 
chance  you  left  Don  Enrique." 

"  There  is  no  occasion,  senor,  to  be  so  particular,"  growled 
Spike,  a  little  sullenly,  in  reply.  "  The  chance,  I  say,  was  a 
good  one,  when  you  consider  how  many  of  them  devils  of 
wreckers  hang  about  these  reefs.  Let  this  brig  only  get  fast 
on  a  rock,  and  they  would  turn  up,  like  sharks,  all  around  us, 
each  with  his  maw  open  for  salvage.  But  this  is  neither  here 
nor  there ;  what  puzzles  me,  was  what  we  saw  at  the  light, 
half  an  hour  since,  and  the  musket  that  was  fired  back  at  us  ! 
I  know  that  the  figure  at  the  foot  of  the  tower  did  not  fire,  for 
my  eye  was  on  him  from  first  to  last,  and  he  had  no  arms. 
You  were  on  the  island  a  ccood  bit,  and  must  have  known  if  the 
lighthouse  keeper  was  there  or  not,  Don  Wan." 

"The  lighthouse  keeper  was  there,  Don  Esteban — but  he 
was  in  his  grave  T 

"  Ay,  ay,  one,  I  know,  was  drowned,  and  buried  with  the  rest 
•_>f  them ;  there  might,  however,  have  been  more  than  one. 
You  saw  none  of  the  people  that  had  gone  to  Key  West  in  or 
about  the  house,  Don  Wan  ?" 


414  JACK     TIER. 

"None.  If  any  persons  have  left  the  Tortugas  to  go  to 
Key  West,  within  a  few  days,  not  one  of  them  has  yet  re- 
turned." 

"  So  I  supposed.  No,  it  can  be  none  of  them.  Then  I  saw 
his  face  as  plainly  as  ever  I  saw  it  by  moonlight,  from  aft, 
for'ard.  "What  is  your  opinion  about  seeing  the  dead  walk  on 
the'arth,  Don  Wan?" 

"  That  I  have  never  seen  any  such  thing  myself,  Don  Este- 
ban,  and  consequently  know  nothing  about  it." 

"  So  I  supposed  ;  I  find  it  hard  to  believe  it,  I  do.  It  may 
be  a  warning  to  keep  us  from  coming  any  more  to  the  Dry 
Tortugas ;  and  I  must  say  I  have  little  heart  for  returning  to 
this  place,  after  all  that  has  fell  out  here.  We  can  go  to  the 
wreck,  fish  up  the  doubloons,  and  be  off  for  Yucatan.  Once 
in  one  of  your  ports,  I  make  no  question  that  the  merits  of  the 
Molly  will  make  themselves  understood,  and  that  we  shall  soon 
agree  on  a  price." 

"What  use  could  we  put  the  brig  to,  Don  Esteban,  if  we 
had  her  all  ready  for  sea  ?" 

"  That  is  a  strange  question  to  ask  in  time  of  war  !  Give 
me  such  a  craft  as  the  Molly,  with  sixty  or  eighty  men  on  board 
her,  in  a  war  like  this,  and  her  'arnin's  should  not  fall  short 
of  half  a  million  within  a  twelvemonth." 

"  Could  we  engage  you  to  take  charge  of  her,  Don  Esteban  V 

"  That  would  be  ticklish  work,  Don  Wan.  But  we  can  see. 
No  one  knows  what  he  will  do  until  he  is  tried.  In  for  a 
penny,  in  for  a  pound.  A  fellow  never  knowTs  !  Ha  !  ha !  ha ! 
Don  Wan,  we  live  in  a  strange  world — yes,  in  a  strange  world." 

"  We  live  in  strange  times,  Don  Esteban,  as  the  situation 
of  my  poor  country  proves.  But  let  us  talk  this  matter  over 
a  little  more  in  confidence." 

And  they  did  thus  discuss  the  subject.  It  was  a  singular 
spectacle  to  see  an  honorable  man,  one  full  of  zeal  of  the  purest 
nature  in  behalf  of  his  own  country,  sounding  a  traitor  as  to 
the  terms  on  which  he  might  be  induced  to  do  all  the  harm 


JACK     TIER.  415 

lie  could  to  those  who  claimed  his  allegiance.  Such  sights, 
however,  are  often  seen ;  our  own  especial  objects  too  fre- 
quently blinding  us  to  the  obligations  that  we  owe  morality, 
so  far  as  not  to  be  instrumental  in  effecting  even  what  we  con- 
ceive to  be  good,  by  questionable  agencies.  But  the  Senor 
Montefalderon  kept  in  view,  principally,  his  desire  to  be  useful 
to  Mexico,  blended  a  little  too  strongly,  perhaps,  with  the 
wishes  of  a  man  who  was  born  near  the  sun,  to  avenge  his 
wrongs,  real  or  fancied. 

While  this  dialogue  was  going  on  between  Spike  and  his 
passenger,  as  they  paced  the  quarter-deck,  one  quite  as  charac- 
teristic occurred  in  the  galley,  within  twenty  feet  of  them  : 
Simon,  the  cook,  and  Josh,  the  steward,  being  the  interlocu- 
tors. As  they  talked  secrets,  they  conferred  together  witb 
closed  doors,  though  few  were  ever  disposed  to  encounter  the 
smoke,  grease,  and  fumes  of  their  narrow  domains,  unless  called 
thither  by  hunger. 

"  What  you  t'ink  of  dis  matter,  Josh  ?"  demanded  Simon, 
whose  skull  having  the  well-known  density  of  his  race,  did 
not  let  internal  ideas  out,  or  external  ideas  in,  as  readily  as 
most  men's.  "  Our  young  mate  was  at  de  lighthouse  beyond 
all  controwersy ;  and  how  can  he  be  den  on  dat  rock  over 
yonder,  too  ?" 

"  Dat  is  imposserbul,"  answered  Josh ;  "  derefore  I  says  it 
isn't  true.  I  surposes  you  know  dat  what  is  imposserbul  isn't 
true,  Simon.  Nobody  can't  be  out  yonder  and  down  here 
at  de  same  time.  Dat  is  imposserbul,  Simon.  But  what  I 
wants  to  intermate  to  you,  will  explain  all  dis  difficulty ;  and 
it  do  show  de  raal  super'ority  of  a  colored  man  over  de  white 
poperlation.  Now,  you  mark  my  words,  cook,  and  be  full  of 
admiration  1  Jack  Tier  came  back  along  wid  de  Mexican 
gentle'em,  in  my  anchor-watch,  dis  very  night !  You  see,  in 
de  fust  place,  ebbery  t'ing  come  to  pass  in  nigger's  watch." 

Here  the  two  dark-skinned  worthies  haw-haw'd  to  their 
hearts'  content ;  laughing  very  much  as  a  magistrate  or  a  min- 


110  JACK     TIER. 

ister  of  the  Gospel  might  be  fancied  to  laugh,  the  first  time  he 
saw  a  clown  at  a  circus.  The  merriment  of  a  negro  will  have 
its  course,  in  spite  of  ghosts,  or  of  any  thing  else ;  and  neither 
the  cook  nor  the  steward  dreamed  of  putting  in  another  syl- 
lable, until  their  laugh  was  fairly  and  duly  ended.  Then  the 
cook  made  his  remarks. 

"  How  Jack  Tier  comin'  back  explain  der  differculty,  Josh  ?" 
asked  Simon. 

"  Didn't  Jack  go  away  wid  Miss  Rose  and  de  mate,  in  de 
boat  dat  got  adrift,  you  know,  in  Jack's  watch  on  deck  ?" 

Here  the  negroes  laughed  again,  their  imaginations  happen- 
ing to  picture  to  each,  at  the  same  instant,  the  mystification 
about  the  boat;  Biddy  having  told  Josh  in  confidence,  the 
manner  in  which  the  party  had  returned  to  the  brig,  while  he 
and  Simon  were  asleep ;  which  fact  the  steward  had  already 
communicated  to  the  cook.  To  these  two  beings,  of  an  order 
in  nature  different'  from  all  around  them,  and  of  a  simplicity 
and  of  habits  that  scarce  placed  them  on  a  level  with  the  in- 
telligence of  the  humblest  white  man,  all  these  circumstances 
had  a  sort  of  mysterious  connection,  out  of  which  peeped 
much  the  most  conspicuously  to  their  faculties,  the  absurdity 
of  the  captain's  imagining  that  a  boat  had  got  adrift,  which 
had,  in  truth,  been  taken  away  by  human  hands.  Accordingly, 
they  laughed  it  out ;  and  when  they  had  done  laughing,  they 
returned  again  to  the  matter  before  them  with  renewed  inter- 
est in  the  subject. 

"Well,  how  all  dat  explain  dis  differculty  ?"  repeated  Simon. 

"In  dis  wery  manner,  cook,"  returned  the  steward,  with  a 
little  dignity  in  his  manner.  "  Ebbery  t'ing  depend  on  under- 
standin',  I  s'pose  you  knpw.  If  Mr.  Mulford  got  taken  off  dat 
rock  by  Miss  Rose  and  Jack  Tier,  wid  de  boat,  and  den  dey 
comes  here  altogedder ;  and  den  Jack  Tier,  he  get  on  board 
nnd  tell  Biddy  all  this  matter,  and  den  Biddy  tell  Josh,  and 
den  Josh- tell  de  cook — what  for  you  surprise,  you  black  debbil, 
one  bit  ?" 


JACK      TIER.  417 

*'  Dat  all  I"  exclaimed  Simon. 

"Dat  just  all — dat  ebbery  bit  of  it,  don't  T  say." 

Here  Simon  burst  into  such  a  fit  of  loud  laughter,  that  it 
induced  Spike  himself  to  shove  aside  the  galley-door,  and 
thrust  his  own  frowning  visage  into  the  dark  hole  within,  to 
inquire  the  cause. 

"What's  the  meaning  of  this  uproar?"  demanded  the  cap- 
tain, all  the  more  excited  because  he  felt  that  things  had 
reached  a  pass  that  would  not  permit  him  to  laugh  himself. 
"Do  you  fancy  yourself  on  the  Hook,  or  at  the  Five  Points?" 

The  Hook  and  the  Five  Points  are  two  pieces  of  tabooed 
territory,  within  the  limits  of  the  good  town  of  Manhattan,  that 
are  getting  to  be  renowned  for  their  rascality  and  orgies. 
They  probably  want  nothing  but  the  proclamation  of  a  gov- 
ernor in  vindication  of  their  principles,  annexed  to  a  pardon  of 
some  of  their  unfortunate  children,  to  render  both  classical. 
If  we  continue  to  make  much  further  progress  in  political  logic, 
and  in  the  same  direction  as  that  in  which  we  have  already 
proceeded  so  far,  neither  will  probably  long  be  in  want  of  this 
illustration.  Votes  can  be  given  by  the  virtuous  citizens  of 
both  these  purlieus,  as  well  as  by  the  virtuous  citizens  of  the 
anti-rent  districts,  and  votes  contain  the  essence  of  all  such 
principles,  as  well  as  of  their  glorification.' 

"  Do  you  fancy  yourselves  on  the  Hook,  or  at  the  Five 
Toints  ?"  demanded  Spike,  angrily. 

"  Lor',  no  sir !"  answered  Simon,  laughing  at  each  pause 
with  all  his  heart.    "Only  laughs  a  little  at  ghost — dat  all,  sir." 

"  Laugh  at  ghost  ?  Is  that  a  subject  to  laugh  at  ?  Have  a 
care,  you  black  rascal,  or  he  will  visit  you  in  your  galley  here, 
when  you  will  least  want  to  see  him." 

"No  care  much  for  him,  sir,"  returned  Simon,  laughing 
away  as  hard  as  ever.  "  Slch  a  ghost  oughtn't  to  skear  little 
baby." 

"  Such  a  ghost  ?  And  what  do  you  know  of  this  ghost  more 
than  any  other  ?" 


418  JACK     TIER. 

"  Well,  I  seed  him,  Cap'in  Spike ;  and  what  a  body  sees,  he 
is  acquainted  wid." 

"You  saw  an  image  that  looked  as  much  like  Mr.  Mulford, 
my  late  mate,  as  one  timber-head  in  this  brig  is  like  another." 

"  Yes,  sir,  he  like  enough — must  say  dat — so  wery  like, 
couldn't  see  any  difference." 

As  Simon  concluded  this  remark,  he  burst  out  into  another 
fit  of  laughter,  in  which  Josh  juined  him,  heart  and  soul,  as  it 
might  be.  The  uninitiated  reader  is  not  to  imagine  the  laugh- 
ter of  those  blacks  to  be  very  noisy,  or  to  be  raised  on  a  sharp, 
high  key.  They  could  make  the  welkin  ring,  in  sudden  bursts 
of  merriment,  on  occasion  ;  but,  at  a  time  like  this,  they  rather 
caused  their  diversion  to  be  developed  by  sounds  that  came 
from  the  depths  of  their  chests.  A  gleam  of  suspicion  that 
these  blacks  were  acquainted  with  some  fact  that  it  might  be 
well  for  him  to  know,  shot  across  the  mind  of  Spike ;  but  he 
was  turned  from  further  inquiry  by  a  remark  of  Don  Juan,  who 
intimated  that  the  mirth  of  such  persons  never  had  much 
meaning  to  it,  expressing  at  the  same  time  a  desire  to  pursue 
the  more  important  subject  in  which  they  were  engaged.  Ad- 
monishing the  blacks  to  be  more  guarded  in  their  manifesta- 
tions of  merriment,  the  captain  closed  the  door  on  them,  and 
resumed  his  walk  up  and  down  the  quarter-deck.  As  soon  as 
left  to  themselves,  the  blacks  broke  out  afresh,  though  in  a  way 
so  guarded,  as  to  confine  their  mirth  to  the  galley. 

"  Cap'in  Spike  t'ink  dat  a  ghost !"  exclaimed  Simon,  with 
contempt. 

"  Guess  if  he  see  raal  ghost,  he  find'e  difference,"  answered 
Josh.     "  One  look  at  raal  spent  wort'  two  at  dis  object." 

Simon's  eyes  now  opened  like  two  saucers,  and  they  gleamed, 
by  the  light  of  the  lamp  they  had,  like  dark  balls  of  condensed 
curiosity,  blended  with  awe,  on  his  companion. 

"You  ebber  see  him,  Josh?"  he  asked,  glancing  over  each 
shoulder  hurriedly,  as  it  might  be,  to  make  sure  that  he  could 
not  see  "  him"  too. 


JACK     TIER.  419 

"  How  you  t'ink  I  get  so  far  down  the  wale  of  life,  Simon, 
and  nebber  see  sich  a  t'ing?     I  seed  t'ree  of  the  crew  of  the 
Maria   Sheffington,'   that  was   drowned  by  deir  boat's   cap- 
sizing when  we  lay  at  Gibraltar,  jest  as  plain  as  I  see  you  now 
Then—" 

But  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  Josh's  experiences  in  this 
way,  with  which  he  continued  to  entertain  and  terrify  Simon 
for  the  next  half-hour.  This  is  just  the  difference  between 
ignorance  and  knowledge.  While  Spike  himself,  and  eveiy 
man  in  his  brio;  who  belonged  forward,  had  strong-  misgivings 

o  o  '  o  to  o 

as  to  the  earthly  character  of  the  figure  they  had  seen  at  the 
foot  of  the  lighthouse,  these  negroes  laughed  at  their  delusion, 
because  they  happened  to  be  in  the  secret  of  Mulford's  escape 
from  the  rock,  and  of  that  of  his  actual  presence  at  the  Tortu- 
gas.  When,  however,  the  same  superstitious  feeling  was 
brought  to  bear  on  circumstances  that  lay  without  the  sphere 
of  their  exact  information,  they  became  just  as  dependent  and 
helpless  as  all  around  them ;  more  so,  indeed,  inasmuch  as 
their  previous  habits  and  opinions  disposed  them  to  a  more 
profound  credulity. 

It  was  midnight  before  any  of  the  crew  of  the  Swash  sought 
their  rest  that  night.  The  captain  had  to  remind  them  that  a 
day  of  extraordinary  toil  was  before  them,  ere  he  could  get 
one  even  to  quit  the  deck ;  and  when  they  did  go  below,  it 
was  to  continue  to  discuss  the  subject  of  what  they  had  seen 
at  the  Dry  Tortugas.  It  appeared  to  be  the  prevalent  opinion 
among  the  people,  that  the  late  event  foreboded  evil  to  the 
Swash,  and  long  as  most  of  these  men  had  served  in  the  brig, 
and  much  as  they  had  become  attached  to  her,  had  she  gone 
into  port  that  night,  nearly  every  man  forward  would  have  run 
before  morning.  But  fatigue  and  wonder,  at  length,  produced 
their  effect,  and  the  vessel  was  silent  as  was  usual  at  that  hour. 
Spike  himself  lay  down  in  his  clothes,  as  he  had  done  ever 
since  Mulford  had  left  him ;  and  the  brig  continued  to  toss  the 
spray  from  her  bows,  as  she   bore  gallantly  up  against  the 


420  JACK     TIER, 

trades,  working  licr  way  to  windward.  The  light  was  found 
to  be  of  great  service,  as  it  indicated  the  position  of  the  reef, 
though  it  gradually  sunk  in  the  western  horizon,  until,  near 
Horning,  it  fell  entirely  below  it. 

At  this  hour  Spike  appeared  on  deck  again,  where,  for  the 
first  time  since  their  interview  on  the  morning  of  Harry's  and 
Rose's  escape,  he  laid  his  eyes  on  Jack  Tier.  The  little 
dumpling-looking  fellow  was  standing  in  the  waist,  with  his 
arms  folded  sailor-fashion,  as  composedly  as  if  nothing  had 
occurred  to  render  his  meeting  with  the  captain  any  way  of  a 
doubtful  character.  Spike  approached  near  the  person  of  the 
steward,  whom  he  surveyed  from  head  to  foot,  with  a  sort  of 
contemptuous  superiority,  ere  he  spoke. 

"So,  Master  Tier,"  at  length  the  captain  commenced,  "you 
have  deigned  to  turn  out  at  last,  have  you  ?  I  hope  the  day's 
duty  you've  forgotten,  will  help  to  pay  for  the  lighthouse  boat, 
that  I  understand  you've  lost  for  me,  also." 

"  What  signifies  a  great  clumsy  boat  that  the  brig  couldn't 
hoist  in  nor  tow,"  answered  Jack,  coolly,  turning  short  round 
at  the  same  time,  but  not  condescending  to  "  uncoil"  his  arms 
as  he  did  so,  a  mark  of  indifference  that  would  probably  have 
helped  to  mistify  the  captain,  had  he  even  actually  suspected 
that  any  thing  was  wrong  beyond  the  supposed  accident  to 
the  boat  in  question.  "  If  you  had  had  the  boat  astarn,  Cap- 
tain Spike,  an  order  would  have  been  given  to  cut  it  adrift  the 
first  time  the  brig  made  sail  on  the  wind." 

"  Nobody  knows,  Jack ;  that  boat  would  have  been  very 
useful  to  us  while  at  work  about  the  wreck.  You  never  even 
turned  out  this  morning  to  let  me  know  where  that  craft  lay, 
as  you  promised  to  do,  but  left  us  to  find  it  out  by  our  wits." 

"  There  was  no  occasion  for  my  telling  you  any  thing  about 
it,  sir,  when  the  mast-heads  was  to  be  seen  above  water.  As 
soon  as  I  heard  that  them  'ere  mast-heads  was  out  of  water,  1 
turned  over  and  went  to  sleep  upon  it.  A  man  can't  be  on 
the  doctor's  list  and  on  duty  at  the  same  time." 


.JACK     TIER.  421 

Spike  looked  hard  at  the  little  steward,  but  lie  made  no 
further  allusion  to  his  being  off  duty,  or  to  his  failing  to  stand 
pilot  to  the  brig  as  she  came  through  the  passage  in  quest  of 
the  schooner's  remains.  The  fact  was,  that  he  had  discovered 
the  mastheads  himself,  just  as  he  was  on  the  point  of  ordering 
Jack  to  be  called,  having  allowed  him  to  remain  in  his  berth 
to  the  last  moment  after  his  watch,  according  to  a  species  o" 
implied  faith  that  is  seldom  disregarded  among  seamen.  Once 
busied  on  the  wreck,  Jack  was  forgotten,  having  little  to  do  in 
common  with  any  one  on  board,  but  that  which  the  captain 
termed  the  "  women's  mess." 

"Come  aft,  Jack,"  resumed  Spike,  after  a  considerable 
pause,  during  the  whole  of  which  he  had  stood  regarding  the 
little  steward  as  if  studying  his  person,  and  through  that  his 
character.  "Come  aft  to  the  trunk;  I  wish  to  catechise  you 
a  bit." 

"  Catechise !"  repeated  Tier,  in  an  under-tone,  as  he  follow- 
ed the  captain  to  the  place  mentioned.  "  It's  a  long  time  since 
I've  done  any  thing  at  that/" 

"Ay,  come  hither,"  resumed  Spike,  seating  himself  at  his 
ease  on  the  trunk,  while  Jack  stood  near  by,  his  arms  still 
folded,  and  his  rotund  little  form  as  immovable  under  the 
plunges  that  the  lively  brig  made  into  the  head-seas  that  she 
was  obliged  to  meet,  as  if  a  timber-head  in  the  vessel  itself. 
"  You  keep  your  sea-legs  well,  Jack,  short  as  they  are." 

"No  wonder  for  that,  Captain  Spike;  for  the  last  twenty 
years  I've  scarce  passed  a  twTelvemonth  ashore  ;  and  what  I 
did  before  that,  no  one  can  better  tell  than  yourself,  since  we 
was  ten  good  years  shipmates." 

"  So  you  say,  Jack,  though  I  do  not  remember  you  as  well 
as  you  seem  to  remember  me.  Do  you  not  make  the  time  toe 
long  ?" 

"  Not  a  day,  sir.  Ten  good  and  happy  years  did  we  sail  to- 
gether, Captain  Spike ;  and  all  that  time  in  this  very — " 

"  Ilush — h-u-s-h,  man,  hush  !     There  is  no  need  of  telling 


422  JACK     TIER. 

the  Molly's  age  to  everybody.  I  may  wish  to  sell  her  some 
day,  and  then  her  great  experience  will  be  no  recommenda- 
tion. You  should  recollect  that  the  Molly  is  a  female,  and  the 
ladies  do  not  like  to  hear  of  their  ages  after  five-and-twenty." 

Jack  made  no  answer,  but  he  dropped  his  arms  to  their  nat- 
ural position,  seeming  to  wait  the  captain's  communication, 
"irst  referring  to  his  tobacco-box  and  taking  a  fresh  quid. 

"If  you  was  with  me  in  the  brig,  Jack,  at  the  time  you 
mention,"  continued  Spike,  after  another  long  and  thoughtful 
pause,  "  you  must  remember  many  little  things  that  I  don't 
wish  to  have  known ;  especially  while  Mrs.  Budd  and  her 
handsome  niece  is  aboard  here." 

"  I  understand  you,  Captain  Spike.  The  ladies  shall  l'ara 
no  more  from  me  than  they  know  already." 

"Thank'e  for  that,  Jack — thank'e  with  all  my  heart.  Ship- 
mates of  our  standing  ought  to  be  fast  friends ;  and  so  you'll 
rind  me,  if  you'll  only  sail  under  the  true  colors,  my  man." 

At  that  moment  Jack  longed  to  let  the  captain  know  how 
strenuously  he  had  insisted  that  very  night  on  rejoining  his 
vessel;  and  this  at  a  time,  too,  when  the  brig  was  falling -into 
disrepute.  But  this  he  could  not  do,  without  betraying  the 
secret  of  the  lovers — so  he  chose  to  say  nothing. 

"There  is  no  use  in  blabbing  all  a  man  knows,  and  the  gal- 
ley is  a  sad  place  for  talking.  Galley  news  is  poor  news,  I 
suppose  you  know,  Jack." 

"I've  hear'n  say  as  much  on  board  o'  man-of-war.  It's  a 
a  great  place  for  the  officers  to  meet  and  talk,  and  smoke,  in 
Uncle  Sam's  crafts  ;  and  what  a  body  hears  in  such  places,  is 
pretty  much  newspaper  stuff,  I  do  suppose." 

"Ay,  ay,  that's  it;  not  to  be  thought  of  half  an  hour  aftei 
it  has  been  spoken.  Here's  a  doubloon  for  you,  Jack ;  and  all 
'or  the  sake  of  old  times.  Now,  tell  me,  my  little  fellow,  how 
do  the  ladies  come  on?  Doesn't  Miss  Rose  get  over  her 
mourning  on  account  of  the  mate  ?  Aren't  we  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  seein'  her  on  deck  soon  ?" 


JACK     TIER.  42'J 

"  I  can't  answer  for  the  minds  and  fancies  of  young  women. 
Captain  Spike.  They  are  difficult  to  understand ;  and  I  would 
rather  not  meddle  with  what  I  can't  understand." 

"  Poh,  poh,  man ;  you  must  get  over  that.  You  might  be 
of  great  use  to  me,  Jack,  in  a  very  delicate  affair — for  you  know 
how  it  is  wTith  women ;  they  must  be  handled  as  a  man  would 
handle  this  brig  among  breakers;  Rose,  in  partic'lar,  is  as 
skittish  as  a  colt." 

"  Stephen  Spike,"  said  Jack,  solemnly,  but  on  so  low  a  key 
that  it  entirely  changed  his  usually  harsh  and  cracked  voice  to 
one  that  sounded  soft,  if  not  absolutely  pleasant,  "  do  you  never 
think  of  hereafter  ?  Your  days  are  almost  run ;  a  very  few 
years,  in  your  calling  it  may  be  a  very  few  weeks,  or  a  few 
hours,  and  time  will  be  done  with  you,  and  etarnity  will  com- 
mence.— Do  you  never  think  of  a  hereafter  ?" 

Spike  started  to  his  feet,  gazing  at  Jack  intently ;  then  he 
wiped  the  perspiration  from  his  face,  and  began  to  pace  the 
deck  rapidly,  muttering  to  himself — "this  has  been  a  most  ac- 
cursed night !  First  the  mate,  and  now  this  !  Blast  me,  but 
I  thought  it  was  a  voice  from  the  grave  !  Graves  !  can't  they 
keep  those  that  belong  to  them,  or  have  rocks  and  waves  no 
graves  ?" 

What  more  passed  through  the  mind  of  the  captain  must 
remain  a  secret,  for  he  kept  it  to  himself;  nor  did  he  take  any 
further  notice  of  his  companion.  Jack,  finding  that  he  was  un- 
observed, passed  quietly  below,  and  took  the  place  in  his  berth, 
which  he  had  only  temporarily  abandoned. 

Just  as  the  day  dawned,  the  Swash  reached  the  vicinity  of 
the  wreck  again.  Sail  was  shortened,  and  the  brig  stood  in 
until  near  enough  for  the  purpose  of  her  commander,  when  she 
was  hove-to,  so  near  the  mast-heads  that,  by  lowering  the  yawl, 
a  line  was  sent  out  to  the  foremast,  and  the  brig  was  hauled 
slose  alongside.  The  direction  of  the  reef  at  that  point  formed 
a  lee ;  and  the  vessel  lay  in  water  sufficiently  smooth  for  her 
object. 


424  JACK     TIER. 

This  was  done  soon  after  the  sun  had  risen,  and  Spike  now 
ordered  all  hands  called,  and  began  his  operations  in  earnest. 
By  sounding  carefully  around  the  schooner  when  last  here,  he 
had  ascertained  her  situation  to  his  entire  satisfaction.  She 
had  settled  on  a  shelf  of  the  reef,  in  such  a  position  that  her 
bows  lay  in  a  sort  of  cradle,  while  her  stern  was  several  feet 
nearer  to  the  surface  than  the  opposite  extremity.  This  last 
fact  was  apparent,  indeed,  by  the  masts  themselves,  the  lower 
mast  aft  being  several  feet  out  of  water,  while  the  furemast  was 
entirely  buried,  leaving  nothing  but  the  foretopmast  exposed. 
On  these  great  premises  Spike  had  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
practical  problem  he  intended  to  solve. 

No  expectation  existed  of  ever  getting  the  schooner  afloat 
again.  All  that  Spike  and  the  Senor  Montefalderon  now  aimed 
at,  was  to  obtain  the  doubloons,  which  the  former  thought 
could  be  got  at  in  the  following  manner.  He  knew  that  it 
would  be  much  easier  handling  the  wreck,  so  far  as  its  gravity 
was  coucerned,  while  the  hull  continued  submerged.  He  also 
knew  that  one  end  could  be  raised  with  a  comparatively  trifling 
effort,  so  long  as  the  other  rested  on  the  rock.  Under  these 
circumstances,  therefore,  he  proposed  merely  to  get  slings 
around  the  after  body  of  the  schooner,  as  near  her  stern-post, 
indeed,  as  would  be  safe,  and  to  raise  that  extremity  of  the 
vessel  to  the  surface,  leaving  most  of  the  weight  of  the  craft  to 
rest  on  the  bows.  The  difference  between  the  power  neces- 
sary to  effect  this  much,  and  that  which  would  be  required  to 
raise  the  whole  wreck,  would  be  like  the  difference  in  power 
necessary  to  turn  over  a  log  with  one  end  resting  on  the 
ground,  and  turning  the  same  log  by  lifting  it  bodily  in  the 
anus,  and  turning  it  in  the  air.  With  the  stern  once  above 
water,  it  would  be  easy  to  come  at  the  bag  of  doubloons,  which 
Jack  Tier  had  placed  in  a  locker  above  the  transoms. 

The  first  thing  was  to  secure  the  brig  properly,  in  order  that 
she  might  bear  the  necessary  strain.  This  was  done  very  much 
as  has  beeD  described  already,  in  the  account  of  the  manner  in 


JACK     TIER.  425 

which  she  was  secured  and  supported  in  order  to  raise  the 
schooner  at  the  Dry  Tortugas.  An  anchor  was  laid  abreast 
and  to  windward,  and  purchases  were  brought  to  the  masts,  as 
before.  Then  the  bight  of  the  chain  brought  from  the  Tortu- 
gas was  brought  under  the  schooner's  keel,  and  counter-pur- 
chases, leading  from  both  the  foremast  and  mainmast  of  the 
brig,  were  brought  to  it,  and  set  taut.  Spike  now  carefully 
examined  all  his  fastenings,  looking  to  his  cables  as  well  as  his 
mechanical  power  aloft,  heaving  in  upon  this,  and  veering  out 
upon  that,  in  order  to  bring  the  Molly  square  to  her  work ; 
after  which  he  ordered  the  people  to  knock-off  for  their  din- 
ners.    By  that  time  it  was  high  noon. 

While  Stephen  Spike  was  thus  employed  on  the  wreck, 
matters  and  things  were  not  neglected  at  the  Tortugas.  The 
Poughkeepsie  had  no  sooner  anchored,  than  Wallace  went  on 
board  and  made  his  report.  Captain  Mull  then  sent  for  Mul- 
ford,  with  whom  he  had  a  long  personal  conference.  This 
officer  was  getting  gray,  and  consequently  he  had  acquired 
experience.  It  was  evident  to  Harry,  at  first,  that  he  was 
regarded  as  one  who  had  been  willingly  engaged  in  an  unlawful 
pursuit,  but  who  had  abandoned  it  to  push  dearer  interests  in 
another  quarter.  It  was  some  time  before  the  commander  of 
the  sloop-of-war  could  divest  himself  of  this  opinion,  though  it 
gradually  gave  way  before  the  frankness  of  the  mate's  manner, 
and  the  manliness,  simplicity,  and  justice  of  his  sentiments. 
Perhaps  Rose  had  some  influence  also  in  bringing  about  this 
favorable  change. 

Wallace  did  not  fail  to  let  it  be  known  that  turtle-soup  was 
to  be  had  ashore ;  and  many  was  the  guest  our  heroine  had  to 
supply  with  that  agreeable  compound,  in  the  course  of  the 
morning.  Jack  Tier  had  manifested  so  much  skill  in  the 
preparation  of  the  dish,  that  its  reputation  soon  extended  to 
the  cabin,  and  the  captain  was  induced  to  land,  in  order  to 
ascertain  how  far  rumor  was  or  was  not  a  liar,  on  this  interest- 
ing occasion.     So  ample  was  the  custom,  indeed,  that  Wallace 


126  JACK     TIER. 

had  the  consideration  to  send  one  of  the  ward-room  servants 
to  the  lighthouse,  in  order  to  relieve  Rose  from  a  duty  that 
was  getting  to  be  a  little  irksome.  She  was  "  seeing  company" 
as  a  bride,  in  a  novel  and  rather  unpleasant  manner ;  and  it 
was  in  consequence  of  a  suggestion  of  the  "  ship's  gentleman," 
that  the  remains  of  the  turtle  were  transferred  to  the  vessel, 
and  were  put  into  the  coppers,  secundum  artem,  by  the  regular 
cooks. 

It  was  after  tickling  his  palate  with  a  bowl  of  the  soup,  and 
enjoying  a  hrdf  hour's  conversation  with  Rose,  that  Captain 
Mull  summoned  Harry  to  a  final  consultation  on  the  subject 
of  their  future  proceedings.  By  this  time  the  commander  of 
the  Poughkeepsie  was  in  a  better  humor  with  his  new  ac- 
quaintance, more  disposed  to  believe  him,  and  infinitely  more 
inclined  to  listen  to  his  suggestions  and  advice,  than  he  had 
been  in  their  previous  interviews.  Wallace  was  present  in  his 
character  of  "  ship's  gentleman,"  or,  as  having  nothing  to  do, 
while  his  senior,  the  first  lieutenant,  was  working  like  a  horse 
on  board  the  vessel,  in  the  execution  of  his  round  of  daily 
duties. 

At  this  consultation,  the  parties  came  into  a  right  under- 
standing of  each  other's  views  and  characters.  Captain  Mull 
was  slow  to  yield  his  confidence,  but  when  he  did  bestow  it, 
he  bestowed  it  sailor-fashion,  or  with  all  his  heart.  Satisfied 
at  last  that  he  had  to  do  with  a  young  man  of  honor,  and  one 
who  was  true  to  the  flag,  he  consulted  freely  with  our  mate, 
asked  his  advice,  and  was  greatly  influenced  in  the  formation 
of  his  final  decision  by  the  opinions  that  Harry  modestly  ad- 
vanced, maintaining  them,  however,  with  solid  arguments,  and 
reasons  that  every  seaman  could  comprehend. 

Mulford  knew  the  plans  of  Spike  by  means  of  his  own  com- 
munications with  the  Senor  Montefalderon.  Once  acquainted 
with  the  projects  of  his  old  commander,  it  was  easy  for  him  to 
calculate  the  time  it  would  require  to  put  them  in  execution, 
with  the  means  that  were  to  be  found  on  board  the  Swash. 


JACK      TIER.  127 

"It  will  take  the  brig  until  near  morning,"  he  said,  "to  beat 
up  to  the  place  where  the  wreck  lies.  Spike  will  wait  for  light 
to  commence  operations,  and  several  hours  will  be  necessary  to 
moor  the  brig,  and  get  out  the  anchors  with  which  he  will 
think  it  necessary  to  stay  his  masts.  Then  he  will  hook  on, 
and  he  may  partly  raise  the  hull  before  night  returns.  More 
than  this  he  can  never  do ;  and  it  would  not  surprise  me  were 
he  merely  to  get  every  thing  ready  for  heaving  on  his  pur- 
chases to-morrow,  and  suspend  further  proceedings  until  the 
next  day,  in  preference  to  having  so  heavy  a  strain  on  his  spars 
all  night.  He  has  not  the  force,  however,  to  carry  on  such 
duty  to  a  very  late  hour ;  and  you  may  count  with  perfect 
security,  Captain  Mull,  on  his  being  found  alongside  of  the 
wreck  at  sunrise  the  next  day  after  to-morrow,  in  all  probability 
with  his  anchors  down,  and  fast  to  the  wreck.  By  timing  your 
own  arrival  well,  nothing  will  be  easier  than  to  get  him  fairly 
under  your  guns  :  and  once  under  your  guns,  the  brig  must 
give  up.  "When  you  chased  her  out  of  this  very  port,  a  few 
days  since,  you  would  have  brought  her  up  could  you  have 
kept  her  within  range  of  those  terrible  shells  ten  minutes 
longer." 

"  You  would  then  advise  my  not  sailing  from  this  place  im- 
mediately ?"  said  Mull. 

"  It  will  be  quite  time  enough  to  get  under  way  late  in  the 
afternoon,  and  then  under  short  canvas.  Ten  hours  will  be 
ample  time  for  this  ship  to  beat  up  to  that  passage  in,  and  it 
will  be  imprudent  to  arrive  too  soon ;  nor  do  I  suppose  you 
will  wish  to  be  playing  round  the  reef  in  the  dark.  " 

To  the  justice  of  all  this  Captain  Mull  assented;  and  the 
plan  of  proceedings  was  deliberately  and  intelligently  formed. 
As  it  was  necessary  for  Mulford  to  go  in  the  ship,  in  order  to 
ict  as  pilot,  no  one  else  on  board  knowing  exactly  where  to 
find  the  wreck,  the  commander  of  the  Poughkeepsie  had  the 
civility  to  offer  the  young  couple  the  hospitalities  of  his  own 
cabin,  with  one  of  his  staterooms.     This  offer  Harry  gratefully 


428  JACK     TIER. 

accepted,  it  being  understood  that  the  ship  would  land  them  at 
Key  West,  as  soon  as  the  contemplated  duty  was  executed. 
Rose  felt  so  much  anxiety  about  her  aunt,  that  any  other  ar- 
rangement would  scarcely  have  pacified  her  fears. 

In  consequence  of  these  arrangements,  the  Poughkeepsie 
lay  quietly  at  her  anchors  until  near  sunset.  In  the  interval, 
her  boats  were  out  in  all  directions,  parties  of  the  officers  visit- 
ing the  islet  where  the  powder  had  exj)loded,  and  the  islet 
where  the  tent  erected  for  the  use  of  the  females  was  still  stand- 
ing. As  for  the  lighthouse  island,  an  order  of  Captain  Mull's 
prevented  it  from  being  crowded  in  a  manner  unpleasant  to 
Hose,  as  might  otherwise  have  been  the  case.  The  few  officers 
who  did  land  there,  however,  appeared  much  struck  with  the 
ingenuous  simplicity  and  beauty  of  the  bride,  and  a  manly  in- 
terest in  her  welfare  was  created  among  them  all,  principally 
by  means  of  the  representations  of  the  second  lieutenant  and 
the  chaplain.  About  five  o'clock  she  went  off  to  the  ship,  ac- 
companied by  Harry,  and  was  hoisted  on  board  in  the  manner 
usually  practised  by  vessels  of  war  which  have  no  accommo- 
dation-ladder rigged.  Rose  was  immediately  installed  in  her 
stateroom,  where  she  found  every  convenience  necessary  to  a 
comfortable  though  small  apartment. 

It  was  quite  late  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  boatswain  and 
his  mate  piped  "All  hands  up  anchor,  ahoy !"  Harry  hastened 
into  the  stateroom  for  his  charming  bride,  anxious  to  show  her 
the  movements  of  a  vessel  of  war  on  such  an  occasion.  Much 
as  she  had  seen  of  the  ocean,  and  of  a  vessel,  within  the  last 
few  weeks.  Rose  now  found  that  she  had  yet  a  great  deal  to 
learn,  and  that  a  ship  of  war  had  many  points  to  distinguish 
her  from  a  vessel  engaged  in  commerce. 

The  Poughkeepsie  was  only  a  sloop-of-war,  or  a  corvette,  in 
construction,  number  of  her  guns,  and  rate  ;  but  she  was  a  ship 
of  the  dimensions  of  an  old-fashioned  frigate,  measuring  about 
one  thousand  tons.  The  frigates  of  which  we  read  half  a  cen- 
tury since,  were  seldom  ever  as  large  as  this,  though  they  were 


JACK      T  I  E  K  ,  429 

differently  built,  in  having  a  regular  gun-deck,  or  one  armed 
deck  that  was  entirely  covered,  with  another  above  it ;  and  on 
the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  of  the  last  of  which  were  also 
batteries  of  lighter  guns.  To  the  contrary  of  all  this,  the 
Poughkeepsie  had  but  one  armed  deck,  and  on  that  only  twenty 
guns.  These  pieces,  however,  were  of  unusually  heavy  calibre, 
throwing  thirty-two  pound  shot,  with  the  exception  of  the  Paix- 
haus,  or  Columbiads,  which  throw  shot  of  even  twice  that  weight, 
The  vessel  had  a  crew  of  two  hundred  souls,  all  told  ;  and  she 
had  the  spars,  anchors,  and  other  equipments  of  a  light  frigate. 
In  another  great  particular  did  the  Poughkeepsie  differ  from 
the  corvette-built  vessels  that  were  so  much  in  favor  at  the 
beginning  of  the  century ;  a  species  of  craft  obtained  from  the 
French,  who  have  taught  the  world  so  much  in  connection 
with  naval  science,  and  who,  after  building  some  of  the  best 
vessels  that  ever  floated,  have  failed  in  knowing  how  to  handle 
them,  though  not  always  in  that.  The  Poughkeepsie,  while 
she  had  no  spar,  or  upper  deck,  properly  speaking,  had  a  poop 
and  a  topgallant-forecastle.  Within  the  last  were  the  cabins 
and  other  accommodations  of  the  captain  ;  an  arrangement 
that  was  necessary  for  a  craft  of  her  construction,  that  carried 
so  many  officers,  and  so  large  a  crew.  Without  it,  sufficient 
space  would  not  be  had  for  the  uses  of  the  last.  One  gun  of  a 
side  was  in  the  main  cabin,  there  being  a  very  neat  and  amply 
spacious  after-cabin  between  the  staterooms,  as  is  ordinarily 
the  case  in  all  vessels  from  the  size  of  frigates  up  to  that  of 
three-deckers.  It  may  be  well  to  explain  here,  while  on  this 
subject  of  construction,  that  in  naval  parlance,  a  ship  is  called 
a  single-decked  vessel,  a  ^wo-decker,  or  a  //wee-decker,  not 
from  the  number  of  decks  she  actually  possesses,  but  from  the 
number  of  gun-decks  that  she  has,  or  of  those  that  are  fully 
armed.  Thus  a  frigate  has  four  decks — the  spar,  gun,  berth, 
.aid  orlop  (or  haul-up)  decks;  but  she  is  called  a  "  single-decked 
ship,"  from  the  circumstance  that  only  one  of  these  four  decks 
nas  a  complete  range  of  batteries.     The  two-decker  has  two 


430  JACK     TIER. 

of  these  fully  armed  decks,  and  the  three-deckers  three  ;  though, 
in  fact,  the  two-decker  has  five,  and  the  three-decker  six  decks. 
Asking  pardon  for  this  little  digression,  which  we  trust  will 
be  found  useful  to  a  portion  of  our  readers,  we  return  to  the 
narrative. 

Harry  conducted  Rose  to  the  poop  of  the  Poughkeepsie, 
where  she  might  enjoy  the  best  view  of  the  operation  of  get- 
ting so  large  a  craft  under  way,  man-of-war  fashion.  The  de- 
tails were  mysteries,  of  course,  and  Rose  knew  no  more  of  the 
process  by  which  the  chain  was  brought  to  the  capstan,  by  the 
intervention  of  what  is  called  a  messenger,  than  if  she  had  not 
been  present.  She  saw  two  hundred  men  distributed  about  the 
vessel,  some  at  the  capstan,  some  on  the  forecastle,  some  in  the 
tops,  and  others  ii<  the  waist,  and  she  heard  the  order  to  "heave 
round."  Then  the  shrill  fife  commenced  the  lively  air  of  "  The 
girl  I  left  behind  me,"  rather  more  from  a  habit  in  the  fifer, 
than  from  any  great  regrets  for  the  girls  left  at  the  Dry  Tortu- 
gas,  as  was  betrayed  to  Mulford  by  the  smiles  of  the  officers, 
and  the  glances  they  cast  at  Rose.  As  for  the  latter,  she  knew 
nothing  of  the  air,  and  was  quite  unconscious  of  the  sort  of 
parody  that  the  gentlemen  of  the  quarter-deck  fancied  it  con- 
veyed on  her  own  situation. 

Rose  was  principally  struck  with  the  quiet  that  prevailed  in 
the  ship,  Captain  Mull  being  a  silent  man  himself,  and  insisting 
on  having  a  quiet  vessel.  The  first  lieutenant  was  not  a  noisy 
officer,  and  from  these  two,  everybody  else  on  board  received 
their  cues.  A  simple  "  all  ready,  sir,"  uttered  by  the  first  to 
the  captain,  in  a  common  tone  of  voice,  answered  by  a  "  very 
well,  sir,  get  your  anchor,"  in  the  same  tone,  set  every  thing  in 
motion.  "  Stamp  and  go,"  soon  followed,  and,  taking  the  whole 
scene  together,  Rose  felt  a  strange  excitement  come  over  her. 
There  were  the  shrill,  animating  music  of  the  fife ;  the  stamp- 
ing time  of  the  men  at  the  bars ;  the  perceptible  motion  of  the 
ship,  as  she  drew  ahead  to  her  archor,  and  now  and  then  the 
call  between  Wallace,  who  stood  between  the  knightheads,  as 


JACK     TIER.  431 

commander-in-chief  on  the  forecastle  (the  second  lieutenant's 
station  when  the  captain  does  not  take  the  trumpet,  as  very 
rarely  happens),  and  the  "  executive  officer"  aft  "  carrying  on 
duty,"  all  conspiring  to  produce  this  effect.  At  length — and 
it  was  hut  a  minute  or  two  from  the  time  when  the  "  stamp  and 
go"  commenced — Wallace  called  out,  "A  short  stay-peak,  sir." 
"  Heave  and  pull"  followed,  and  the  men  left  their  bars. 

The  process  of  making  sail  succeeded.  There  was  no  "let- 
ting fall"  a  fore-topsail  here,  as  on  board  a  merchantman,  but  all 
the  canvas  dropped  from  the  yards,  into  festoons,  at  the  same 
instant.  Then  the  three  topsails  were  sheeted  home  and 
hoisted,  all  at  once,  and  all  in  a  single  minute  of  time ;  the 
yards  were  counterbraced,  and  the  capstan-bars  were  again 
manned.  In  two  more  minutes  it  was  "  heave  and  she's  up 
and  down."  Then  "heave  and  in  sight,"  and  "heave  and  pull 
again."  The  cat-fall  was  ready,  and  it  was  "hook  on,"  when 
the  fife  seemed  to  turn  its  attention  to  another  subject  as  the 
men  catted  the  anchor.  Literally,  all  this  was  done  in  less 
time  than  we  have  taken  to  write  it  down  in,  and  in  very  little 
more  time  than»the  reader  has  wasted  in  perusing  what  we  have 
here  written. 

The  Poughkeepsie  was  now  "  free  of  bottom,"  as  it  is  called, 
with  her  anchor  catted  and  fished,  and  her  position  maintained 
in  the  basin  where  she  lay,  by  the  counterbracing  of  her  yards, 
and  the  counteracting  force  of  the  wind  on  her  sails.  It  only 
remained  to  "  fill  away,"  by  bracing  her  head-yards  sharp  up, 
when  the  vast  mass  overcame  its  inertia,  and  began  to  move 
through  the  water.  All  this  was  done,  the  jib  and  spanker 
were  set.  The  two  most  beautiful  things  with  which  we  are 
acquainted,  are  a  graceful  and  high-bred  woman  entering  or 
quitting  a  drawing-room,  more  particularly  the  last,  and  a  man- 
of-war  leaving  her  anchorage  in  a  moderate  breeze,  and  when 
not  hurried  for  time.  On  the  present  occasion,  Captain  Mull 
was  in  no  haste,  and  the  ship  passed  out  to  windward  of  the 
light,  as  the  Swash  had  done  the  previous  night,  under  her 


432  JACK     TIER. 

three  topsails,  spanker,  and  jib,  with  the  light  sails  loose  and 
(lowing,  and  the  courses  hanging  in  the  brails. 

A  great  deal  is  said  concerning  the  defective  construction  of 
the  light  cruisers  of  the  navy,  of  late  years,  and  complaints  are 
made  that  they  will  not  sail,  as  American  cruisers  ought  to 
sail,  and  were  wont  to  sail  in  old  times.  That  there  has  been 
some  ground  for  these  complaints,  we  believe ;  though  the  evil 
has  been  greatly  exaggerated,  and  some  explanation  may  be 
given,  we  think,  even  in  cases  in  which  the  strictures  are  not 
altogether  without  justification.  The  trim  of  a  light,  sharp  ves- 
sel is  easily  deranged ;  and  officers,  in  their  desire  to  command 
as  much  as  possible,  often  get  their  vessels  of  this  class  too 
deep.  They  are,  generally,  for  the  sort  of  cruiser,  over-sparred, 
over-manned,  and  over-provisioned ;  consequently,  too  deep. 
We  recollect  a  case  in  which  one  of  these  delicate  craft,  a  half- 
riffffed  brig,  was  much  abused  for  "  having  lost  her  sailing." 
She  did,  indeed,  lose  her  fore-yard,  and,  after  that,  she  sailed 
like  a  witch,  until  she  got  a  new  one !  If  the  facts  wrere  in- 
quired into,  in  the  spirit  which  ought  to  govern  such  inquiries, 
it  would  be  found  that  even  most  of  the  mUch-abused  "ten 
sloops"  proved  to  be  better  vessels  than  common.  The  St. 
Louis,  the  Vincennes,  the  Concord,  the  Fairfield,  the  Boston, 
and  the  Falmouth,  are  instances  of  what  we  mean.  In  behalf 
of  the  Warren,  and  the  Lexington,  we  believe  no  discreet  man 
was  ever  heard  to  utter  one  syllable,  except  as  wholesome 
crafts.  But  the  Poughkeepsie  was  a  very  different  sort  of  ves- 
sel from  any  of  the  "  ten  sloops."  She  was  every  way  a  good 
ship,  and,  as  Jack  expressed  it,  was  "  a  good  goer."  The  most 
severe  nautical  critic  could  scarcely  have  found  a  fault  in  her, 
as  she  passed  out  between  the  islets,  on  the  evening  of  the  day 
mentioned,  in  the  sort  of  undress  we  have  described.  The 
whole  scene,  indeed,  was  impressive,  and  of  singular  maritime 
characteristics. 

The  little  islets  scattered  about — low,  sandy,  and  untenanted 
— were  the  only  laud  in  sight;  all  else  was  the  boundless  waste 


JACK     TIER.  433 

of  waters.  The  solitary  light  rose  like  an  aquatic  monument, 
as  it'  purposely  to  give  its  character  to  the  view.  Captain  Mull 
had  caused  its  lamps  to  be  trimmed  and  lighted,  for  the  very 
reason  that  had  induced  Spike  to  do  the  same  thirjg,  and  the 
dim  star  they  presented  was  just  struggling  into  existence,  as  it 
might  be,  as  the  brilliance  left  by  the  setting  sun  was  gradually 
diminished,  and  finally  disappeared.  As  for  the  ship,  the  hull 
appeared  dark,  glossy,  and  graceful,  as  is  usual  with  a  vessel  of 
war.  Her  sails  were  in  soft  contrast  to  the  color  of  the  hull, 
and  they  offered  the  variety  and  divergence  from  straight  lines 
which  are  thought  necessary  to  perfect  beauty.  Those  that 
were  set,  presented  the  symmetry  in  their  trim,  the  flatness  in 
their  hoist,  and  the  breadth  that  distinguish  a  man-of-war; 
while  those  that  were  loose,  floated  in  the  air  in  every  wave 
and  cloud-like  swell,  that  we  so  often  see  in  light  canvas  that  is 
released  from  the  yards  in  a  fresh  breeze.  The  ship  had  an 
undress  look  from  this  circumstance,  but  it  was  such  an  undress 
as  denotes  the  man  or  woman  of  the  world.  This  undress  ap- 
pearance was  increased  by  the  piping  down  of  the  hammocks, 
which  left  the  nettings  loose,  and  with  a  negligent  but  still 
knowing  look  about  them. 

When  half  a  mile  from  the  islets,  the  main-yard  was  braced 
aback,  and  the  maintopsail  was  laid  to  the  mast.  As  soon  as 
the  ship  had  lost  her  way,  two  or  three  boats,  that  had  been 
towing  astern,  each  with  its  boat-sitter,  or  keeper,  in  it,  were 
hauled  up  alongside,  or  to  the  quarters,  were  "hooked  on,"  and 
"  run  up"  to  the  whistling  of  the  call.  All  was  done  at  once, 
and  all  was  done  in  a  couple  of  minutes.  As  soon  as  effected, 
the  maintopsail  was  again  filled,  and  away  the  ship  glided. 

Captain  Mull  was  not  in  the  habit  of  holding  many  consulta- 
tions with  h'is  officers.  If  there  be  wisdom  in  a  "  multitude  of 
counsellors,"  he  was  of  opiuion  it  was  not  on  board  a  man-of- 
war.  Napoleon  is  reported  to  have  said  that  one  bad  general 
was  better  than  two  good  ones;  meaning  that  one  head  to  an 
army,  though  of  inferior  quality,  is  better  than  a  hydra  of  Solo- 
in 


434  JACK     TIER. 

mons  or  Caesars.  Captain  Mull  was  much  of  the  same  way  of 
thinking,  seldom  troubling  his  subordinates  with  any  thing  but 
orders.  He  interfered  very  little  with  "  working  Willy,"  though 
he  saw,  effectually,  that  he  did  his  duty.  "  The  ship's  gentle- 
man" might  enjoy  his  joke  as  much  as  he  pleased,  so  long  as 
he  chose  his  time  and  place  with  discretion ;  but  in  the  cap- 
tain's presence  joking  was  not  tolerated,  unless  it  were  after 
dinner,  at  his  own  table,  and  in  his  own  cabin.  Even  there  it 
was  not  precisely  such  joking  as  took  place  daily,  not  to  say 
hourly,  in  the  midshipmen's  messes. 

In  making  up  his  mind  as  to  the  mode  of  proceeding  on  the 
present  occasion,  therefore,  Captain  Mull,  while  he  had  heard 
all  that  Mulford  had  to  tell  him,  and  bad  even  encouraged 
Wallace  to  give  his  opinions,  made  up  his  decision  for  himself. 
After  learning  all  that  Harry  had  to  communicate,  he  made  his 
own  calculations  as  to  time  and  distance,  and  quietly  deter- 
mined to  carry  whole  sail  on  the  ship  for  the  next  four  hours. 
This  he  did  as  the  wisest  course  of  making  sure  of  getting  to 
windward  while  he  could,  and  knowing  that  the  vessel  could  be 
brought  under  short  canvas  at  any  moment  when  it  might  be 
deemed  necessary.  The  light  was  a  beacon  to  let  him  know 
his  distance,  with  almost  mathematical  precision.  It  could  be 
seen  so  many  miles  at  sea,  each  mile  beiug  estimated  by  so 
many  feet  of  elevation,  and  having  taken  that  elevation,  he  was 
sure  of  his  distance  from  the  glittering  object,  so  long  as  it 
could  be  seen  from  his  own  poop.  It  was  also  of  use.  by  let- 
ting him  know  the  range  of  the  reef,  though  Captain  Mull,  un- 
like Spike,  had  determined  to  make  one  leg  off  to  the  north- 
ward and  eastward  until  he  bad  brought  the  light  nearly  to  the 
horizon,  and  then  to  make  another  to  the  southward  and  east- 
ward, believing  that  the  last  stretch  would  bring  him  to  the 
reef,  almost  as  far  to  windward  as  he  desired  to  be.  In  fur- 
therance of  this  plan,  the  sheets  of  the  different  sails  were  drawn 
home,  as  soon  as  the  boats  were  in,  and  the  Poughkeepsie, 
bending  a  little  to  the  breezo,  gallantly  dashed  the  waves  aside, 


JACK     TIER.  435 

as  she  went  through  and  over  them,  at  a  rate  of  not  less  than 
ten  good  knots  in  the  hour.  As  soon  as  all  these  arrange- 
ments were  made,  the  watch  went  below,  and  from  that  time 
throughout  the  night,  the  ship  offered  nothing  but  the  quiet 
manner  in  which  ordinary  duty  is  carried  on  in  a  well-regulated 
vessel  of  war  at  sea,  between  the  hours  of  sun  and  sun.  Leav- 
ing the  good  craft  to  pursue  her  way  with  speed  and  certainty, 
we  must  now  return  to  the  Swash. 

Captain  Spike  had  found  the  mooring  of  his  brig  a  much 
more  difficult  task,  on  this  occasion,  than  on  that  of  his  former 
attempt  to  raise  the  schooner.  Then  he  had  to  lift  the  wreck 
bodily,  and  he  knew  that  laying  the  Swash  a  few  feet  farther 
ahead  or  astern,  could  be  of  no  great  moment,  inasmuch  as  the 
moment  the  schoouer  was  off  the  bottom,  she  would  swing  in 
perpendicularly  to  the  purchases.  But  now  one  end  of  the 
schooner,  her  bows,  was  to  remain  fast,  and  it  became  of  im- 
portance to  be  certain  that  the  purchases  were  so  placed  as  to 
bring  the  least  strain  on  the  masts  while  they  acted  most  di- 
rectly on  the  after  body  of  the  vessel  to  be  lifted.  This  point 
gave  Spike  more  trouble  than  he  had  anticipated.  Fully  one 
half  of  the  remainder  of  the  day,  even  after  he  had  begun  to 
heave  up  his  purchases,  was  spent  in  rectifying  mistakes  in  con- 
nection with  this  matter,  and  in  getting  up  additional  securities 
to  his  masts. 

In  one  respect  Spike  had,  from  the  first,  made  a  good  dispo- 
sition. The  masts  of  the  brig  raked  materially,  and  by  bring- 
ing the  head  of  the  Swash  in  the  direction  of  the  schooner,  he 
convertel  this  fact,  which  might  otherwise  have  been  of  great 
disadvantage,  into  a  circumstance  that  was  favorable.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  brig's  having  been  thus  moored,  the  strain, 
which  necessarily  led  forward,  came  nearly  in  a  line  with  the 
masts,  and  the  latter  were  much  better  able  to  support  it.  Not- 
withstanding this  advantage,  however,  it  was  found  expedient 
to  get  up  preventer-stays,  and  to  give  the  spars  all  the  addi- 
tional  support  that  could  be  conveniently  bestowed.     Hoars 


430  JACK     TIER, 

wore  passed  in  making  these  preliminary,  or  it  might  be  better 
to  say,  secondary  arrangements. 

It  was  past  five  in  the  afternoon  when  the  people  of  the 
Swash  began  to  heave  on  their  purchases  as  finally  disposed. 
After  much  creaking,  and  the  settling  of  straps  and  lashings 
into  their  places,  it  was  found  that  every  thing  stood,  and  the 
work  went  on.  In  ten  minutes  Spike  found  he  had  the  weight 
of  the  schooner,  so  far  as  he  should  be  obliged  to  sustain  it  at 
all,  until  the  stern  rose  above  the  surface ;  and  he  felt  reason- 
ably secure  of  the  doubloons.  Further  than  this  he  did  not  in- 
tend to  make  any  experiment  on  her,  the  Sefior  Montefalderon 
having  abandoned  all  idea  of  recovering  the  vessel  itself,  now 
so  much  of  the  cargo  was  lost.  The  powder  was  mostly  con- 
sumed, and  that  which  remained  in  the  hull  must,  by  this  time, 
be  injured  by  dampness,  if  not  ruined.  So  reasoned  Don  Juan 
at  least. 

As  the  utmost  care  was  necessary,  the  capstan  and  windlass 
were  made  to  do  their  several  duties  with  great  caution.  As 
inch  by  inch  was  gained,  the  extra  supports  of  the  masts  wrere 
examiucd,  and  it  was  found  that  a  much  heavier  strain  now 
came  on  the  masts  than  when  the  schooner  was  raised  before. 
This  was  altoo-ether  ow?ino-  to  the  direction  in  which  it  came, 
and  to  the  fact  that  the  anchor  planted  off  abeam  was  not  of  as 
much  use  as  on  the  former  occasion,  in  consequence  of  its  not 
lying  so  much  in  a  straight  line  with  the  direction  of  the  pur- 
chases. Spike  began  to  have  misgivings  on  account  of  his 
masts,  and  this  so  much  the  more  because  the  wind  appeared 
to  haul  a  little  farther  to  the  northward,  and  the  weather  to 
look  unsettled.  Should  a  swell  roll  into  the  bight  of  the  reef 
where  the  brig  lay,  by  raising  the  hull  a  little  too  rudely,  there 
would  be  the  imminent  danger  of  at  least  springing,  if  not  of 
absolutely  carrying  away  both  the  principal  spars.  It  was, 
therefore,  necessary  to  resort  to  extraordinary  precautions,  in 
order  to  obviate  this  danger. 

The  captain  was  indebted  to  his  boatswain,  who  was  now  in 


J  A  C  k     T  I  E  11  .  437 

fact  acting  as  his  mate,  for  the  suggestion  of  the  plan  next 
adopted.  Two  of  the  largest  spare  spars  of  the  brig  were  got 
out,  with  their  heads  securely  lashed  to  the  links  of  the  chain 
by  which  the  wreck  was  suspended,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
schooner.  Pig-iron  and  shot  were  lashed  to  the  heels  of  these 
spars,  which  carried  them  to  the  bottom.  As  the  spars  were 
of  greater  length  than  was  necessary  to  reach  the  rock,  they 
necessarily  lay  at  an  inclination,  which  was  lessened  every  inch 
the  after  body  of  the  wreck  Avas  raised,  thus  forming  props  to 
the  hull  of  the  schooner. 

Spike  was  delighted  with  the  success  of  this  scheme,  of 
which  he  was  assured  by  a  single  experiment  in  heaving. 
After  getting  the  spars  well  planted  at  their  heels,  he  even  or- 
dered the  men  to  slacken  the  purchases  a  little,  and  found  that 
he  could  actually  relieve  the  brig  from  the  strain,  bv  causing 
the  wreck  to  be  supported  altogether  by  these  shores.  This 
was  a  vast  relief  from  the  cares  of  the  approaching  night,  and 
indeed  alone  prevented  the  necessity  of  the  work's  going  on 
without  interruption,  or  rest,  until  the  end  was  obtained. 

The  people  of  the  Swash  were  just  assured  of  the  comforta- 
ble fact  related,  as  the  Poughkeepsie  was  passing  out  from 
among  the  islets  of  the  Dry  Tortugas.  They  imagined  them- 
selves happy  in  having  thus  made  a  sufficient  provision  against 
the  most  formidable  of  all  the  dangers  that  beset  them,  at  the 
very  moment  when  the  best-laid  plan  for  their  destruction  was 
on  the  point  of  being  executed.  In  this  respect,  they  resem- 
bled millions  of  others  of  their  fellows,  who  hang  suspended 
over  the  vast  abyss  of  eternity,  totally  unconscious  of  the  irre- 
trievable character  of  the  fall  that  is  so  soon  to  occur.  Spike, 
as  has  been  just  stated,  was  highly  pleased  with  his  own  expe- 
dient, and  he  pointed  it  out  with  exultation  to  the  Sefior  Mon- 
tefalderon,  as  soon  as  it  was  completed. 

"A  nicer  fit  was  never  made  by  a  Lunnun  leg-maker,  Don 
Wan,"  the  captain  cried,  after  going  over  the  explanations  con- 
nected with  the  shores  :  "  there  she  stands,  at  an  angle  of  fifty, 


438  JACK      T  IKR. 

with  two  as  good  limbs  under  her  as  a  body  could  wish.  I 
could  now  cast  off  every  thing,  and  leave  the  wreck  in  what 
they  call  '  statu  quo]  which,  I  suppose,  means  on  its  pins,  like 
a  statue.  The  tafferel  is  not  six  inches  below  the  surface  of 
the  water,  and  half  an  hour  of  heaving  will  bring  the  starn  in 
sight." 

"  Your  work  seems  ingeniously  contrived  to  get  up  one  ex- 
tremity of  the  vessel,  Don  Esteban,"  returned  the  Mexican ; 
"but  are  you  quite  certain  that  the  doubloons  are  in  her?" 

This  question  was  put  because  the  functionary  of  a  govern- 
ment in  which  money  was  very  apt  to  stick  in  passing  from 
hand  to  hand  was  naturally  suspicious,  and  he  fouud  it  difficult 
to  believe  that  Mulford,  Jack  Tier,  and  even  Biddy,  under  all 
the  circumstances,  had  not  paid  special  attention  to  their  own 
interests. 

"  The  bag  was  placed  in  one  of  the  transom-lockers  before 
the  schooner  capsized,"  returned  the  captain,  "  as  Jack  Tier  in- 
forms me ;  if  so,  it  remains  there  still.  Even  the  sharks  will 
not  touch  gold,  Don  Wan." 

"  Would  it  not  be  well  to  call  Jack,  and  hear  his  account  of 
the  matter  once  more,  now  we  appear  to  be  so  near  the  Eldo- 
rado of  our  wishes  ?" 

Spike  assented,  and  Jack  was  summoned  to  the  quarter-deck. 
The  little  fellow  had  scarce  showed  himself  throughout  the  day, 
and  be  now  made  his  appearance  with  a  slow  step,  and  reluctantly. 

"  You've  made  no  mistake  about  them  'ere  doubloons,  I  take 
it,  Master  Tier  ?"  said  Spike,  in  a  very  nautical  sort  of  style  of 
addressing  an  inferior.  "  You  knoiv  them  to  be  in  one  of  the 
transom-lockers  V 

Jack  mounted  on  the  breech  of  one  of  the  guns,  and  looked 
over  the  bulwarks  at  the  dispositions  that  had  been  made  about 
the  wreck.  The  tafferel  of  the  schooner  actually  came  in  sight, 
when  a  little  swell  passed  over  it,  leaving  it  for  an  instant  in  the 
trough.  The  steward  thus  caught  a  glinq^se  again  of  the  craft 
on  board  which  he  had  seen  so  much  hazard,  and  he  shook  his 


JACK     TIER.  439 

head  aud  seemed  to  be  thinking  of  any  thing  but  the  question 
which  had  just  been  put  to  him. 

"  Well,  about  that  gold  ?"  asked  Spike,  impatiently. 

"  The  sight  of  that  craft  has  brought  other  thoughts  than  golc: 
into  my  mind,  Captain  Spike,"  answered  Jack,  gravely,  "  and  it 
would  be  well  for  all  us  mariners,  if  we  thought  less  of  gold  and 
more  of  the  dangers  we  run.  For  hours  and  hours  did  I  stand 
over  etarnity,  on  the  bottom  of  that  schooner,  Don  Wan, 
holdin'  my  life,  as  it  might  be,  at  the  marcy  of  a  few  bubbles  of 
air." 

"  What  has  all  that  to  do  with  the  gold  ?  Have  you  deceived 
me  about  that  locker,  little  rascal  ?" 

"  No,  sir,  I've  not  deceived  you — no,  Captain  Spike,  no.  The 
bag  is  in  the  upper  transom-locker,  on  the  starboard  side.  There 
I  put  it  with  my  own  hands,  and  a  good  lift  it  wras ;  and  there 
you'll  find  it,  if  you'll  cut  through  the  quarter-deck  at  the  spot 
I  can  p'int  out  to  you." 

This  information  seemed  to  give  a  renewed  energy  to  all  the 
native  cupidity  of  the  captain,  wdio  called  the  men  from  their 
suppers,  and  ordered  them  to  commence  heaving  anew.  The 
word  was  passed  to  the  crew  that  "  it  was  now  for  doubloons," 
and  they  went  to  the  bars  and  handspikes,  notwithstanding  the 
sun  had  set,  cheerfully  and  cheering. 

All  Spike's  expedients  admiral ly  answered  the  intended  pur- 
poses. The  stern  of  the  schooner  rose  gradually,  and  at  each 
lift  the  heels  of  the  shores  dropped  in  more  perpendicularly, 
carried  by  the  weights  attached  to  them,  and  the  spars  stood  as 
firm  props  to  secure  all  that  was  gained.  In  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  most  of  that  part  of  the  stern  which  was  within  five  or 
six  feet  of  the  tafferel,  rose  above  the  Avater,  coming  fairly  in 
view. 

Spike  now  shouted  to  the  men  to  "  pall !"  then  he  directed 
the  falls  to  be  very  gradually  eased  off,  in  order  to  ascertain  it 
the  shores  would  still  do  their  duty.  The  experiment  was  suc- 
cessful, and  presently  the  wreck  stood  in  its  upright  position, 


440  J  A  C   K      V  1   E  R  . 

sustained  entirely  by  the  two  spars.  As  the  last  Avere  now 
nearly  perpendicular,  they  were  capable  of  bearing  a  very  heavy 
weight,  and  Spike  was  so  anxious  to  relieve  his  own  brig 
from  the  strain  she  had  been  enduring,  that  he  ordered  the 
lashings  of  the  blocks  to  be  loosened,  trusting  to  his  shores  to 
do  their  duty.  Against  this  confidence  the  boatswain  ventured 
a  remonstrance,  but  the  gold  was  too  near  to  allow  the  captain 
to  listen  or  reply.  The  carpenter  was  ordered  over  on  the 
wreck  with  his  tools,  while  Spike,  the  Senor  Montefalderon,  and 
two  men  to  row  the  boat  and  keep  it  steady,  went  in  the  yaw] 
to  watch  the  progress  of  the  work.  Jack  Tier  was  ordered-  to 
stand  in  the  chains,  and  to  point  out,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the 
place  where  the  carpenter  was  to  cut. 

When  all  was  ready,  Spike  gave  the  word,  and  the  chips  be- 
gan to  fly.  By  the  use  of  the  saw  and  the  axe,  a  hole  large 
enough  to  admit  two  or  three  men  at  a  time,  was  soon  made  in 
the  deck,  and  the  sounding  for  the  much  coveted  locker  com- 
menced. By  this  time,  it  was  quite  dark ;  and  a  lantern  was 
passed  down  from  the  brig,  in  order  to  enable  those  who  searched 
for  the  locker  to  see.  Spike  had  breasted  the  yawl  close  up  to 
the  hole,  where  it  was  held  by  the  men,  while  the  captain  him- 
self passed  the  lantern  and  his  own  head  into  the  opening  to 
reconnoitre. 

"  Ay,  it's  all  right !"  cried  the  voice  of  the  captain  from  with- 
in his  cell-like  cavity.  "  I  can  just  see  the  lid  of  the  locker 
that  Jack  means,  and  we  shall  soon  have  what  we  are  a'ter. 
Carpenter,  you  may  as  well  slip  off  your  clothes  at  once,  and 
go  inside;  I  will  point  out  to  you  the  place  where  to  find  the 
locker.     You're  certain,  Jack,  it  was  the  starboard  locker?" 

"Ay,  ay,  sir,  the  starboard  locker,  and  no  other." 

The  carpenter  had  soon  got  into  the  hole,  as  naked  as  when 
he  was  born.  It  was  a  gloomy-looking  place  for  a  man  to 
descend  into  at  that  hour,  the  light  from  the  lantern  being  no 
great  matter,  and  half  the  time  it  was  shaded  by  the  manner  in 
which  Spike  was  compelled  to  hold  it. 


JACK      TIER.  441 

"Take  care  and  get  a  good  footing,  carpenter,"  said  the  cap- 
tain, in  a  kinder  tone  than  common,  "before  yon  let  go  with 
your  bands ;  but  I  suppose  you  can  swim,  as  a  matter  of 
course  ?" 

"  No,  sir,  not  a  stroke — I  never  could  make  out  in  the  water 
at  all." 

"Have  the  more  care,  then.  Had  I  known  as  much,  I 
would  have  sent  another  hand  down ;  but  mind  your  footing. 
More  to  the  left,  man — more  to  the  left.  That  is  the  lid  of  the 
locker — your  hand  is  on  it ;  why  do  you  not  open  it  ?" 

"  It  is  swelled  by  the  water,  sir,  and  will  need  a  chisel,  or 
some  tool  of  that  sort.  Just  call  out  to  one  of  the  men,  sir,  if 
you  please,  to  pass  me  a  chisel  from  my  tool-chest.  A  good 
stout  one  will  be  best." 

This  order  was  given,  and,  during  the  delay  it  caused,  Spike 
encouraged  the  carpenter  to  be  cool,  and  above  all  to  mind  his 
footing.  His  own  eagerness  to  get  at  the  gold  was  so  great 
that  he  kept  his  head  in  at  the  hole,  completely  cutting  oft'  the 
man  within  from  all  communication  with  the  outer  world. 

"What's  the  matter  with  you?"  demanded  Spike,  a  little 
sternly.  "You  shiver,  and  yet  the  water  cannot  be  cold  in 
this  latitude.  No,  my  hand  makes  it  just  the  right  warmth  to 
be  pleasant." 

"  It's  not  the  water,  Captain  Spike— I  wish  they  would  come 
with  the  chisel.  Did  you  hear  nothing,  sir  ?  I'm  certain  1 
did !" 

"  Hear ! — what  is  there  here  to  be  heard,  unless  there  may 
be  some  fish  inside,  thrashing  about  to  get  out  of  the  vessel's 
■  hold  ?" 

"I  am  sure  I  heard  something  like  a  groan,  Captain  Spike. 
I  wish  you  would  let  me  come  out,  sir,  and  I'll  go  for  the  chisel 
myself;  them  men  will  never  find  it." 

"  Stay  where  you  are,  coward !  are  you  afraid  of  dead  men 
standing  against  walls  ?  Stay  where  you  are.  Ah !  here  is 
the  chisel — now  let  us  see  what  vou  can  do  with  it." 


'142  JACK     TIER. 

"  I  am  certain  I  heard  another  groan,  Captain  Spike.  I  can- 
not work,  sir.  I'm  of  no  use  here — do  let  me  come  out,  sir, 
and  send  a  hand  down  that  can  swim." 

Spike  uttered  a  terrible  malediction  on  the  miserable  car- 
penter, one  we  do  not  care  to  repeat ;  then  he  cast  the  light  of 
the  lantern  full  in  the  man's  face.  The  quivering  flesh,  the 
pallid  face,  and  the  whole  countenance  wTought  up  almost  to 
a  frenzy  of  terror,  astonished,  as  well  as  alarmed  him. 

"  What  ails  you,  man  V  said  the  captain  in  a  voice  of 
thunder.  "  Clap  in  the  chisel,  or  I'll  hurl  you  off  into  the 
water.     There  is  nothing  here,  dead  or  alive,  to  harm  ye  !" 

"The  groan,  sir — I  hear  it  again  !  Do  let  me  come  out,  Cap- 
tain Spike." 

Spike  himself,  this  time,  heard  what  even  he  took  for  a  groan. 
It  came  from  the  depths  of  the  vessel,  apparently,  and  was  suf- 
ficiently distinct  and  audible.  Astonished,  yet  appalled,  he 
thrust  his  shoulders  into  the  aperture,  as  if  to  dare  the  demon 
that  tormented  him,  and  was  met  by  the  carpenter  endeavoring 
to  escape.  In  the  struggle  that  ensued,  the  lantern  was 
dropped  into  the  water,  leaving  the  half-frenzied  combatants 
contending  in  the  dark.  The  groan  was  renewed,  when  the 
truth  flashed  on  the  minds  of  both. 

"The  shores!  the  shores!"  exclaimed  the  carpenter  from 
within.  "  The  shores  !"  repeated  Spike,  throwing  himself  back 
into  the  boat,  and  shouting  to  his  men  to  "see  all  clear  of  the 
wreck !"  The  grating  of  one  of  the  shores  on  the  coral  be- 
neath was  now  heard  plainer  than  ever,  and  the  lower  extrem- 
ity slipped  outward,  not  astern,  as.  had  been  apprehended,  let- 
ting the  wreck  slowly  settle  to  the  bottom  again.  One  piercing 
shriek  arose  from  the  narrow  cavity  within  ;  then  the  gurgling 
of  water  into  the  aperture  was  heard,  when  naught  of  sound 
could  be  distinguished  but  the  sullen  and  steady  wash  of  the 
waves  of  the  Gulf  over  the  rocks  of  the  reef. 

The  impression  made  by  this  accident  was  most  profound. 
A.  fatality  appeared  to  attend  the  brig;  and  most  of  the  men 


J/iCK     TIER.  443 

connected  the  sad  occurrence  of  this  night  with  the  strange 
appearance  of  the  previous  evening.  Even  the  Senor  Monte- 
falderon  was  disposed  to  abandon  the  doubloons,  and  he  urged 
Spike  to  make  the  best  of  his  way  for  Yucatan,  to  seek  a 
friendly  harbor.  The  captain  wavered ;  but  avarice  was  too 
strong  a  passion  in  him  to  be  easily  diverted  from  its  object, 
and  he  refused  to  give  up  his  purpose. 

As  the  wreck  was  entirely  free  from  the  brig  when  it  went 
down  for  the  third  time,  no  injury  was  sustained  by  the  last 
on  this  occasion.  By  renewing  the  lashings,  every  thing  would 
be  ready  to  begin  the  work  anew — and  this,  Spike  was  resolved 
to  attempt  in  the  morning.  The  men  were  too  much  fatigued, 
aud  it  was  too  dark  to  think  of  pushing  matters  any  farther 
that  night ;  and  it  was  very  questionable  whether  they  could 
have  been  got  to  work.  Orders  were  consequently  given  for 
all  hands  to  turn  in,  the  captain,  relieved  by  Don  Juan  and 
Jack  Tier,  having  arranged  to  keep  the  watches  of  the  night. 

"  This  is  a  sad  accident,  Don  Esteban,"  observed  the  Mexi- 
can, as  he  and  Spike  paced  the  quarter-deck  together,  just  be- 
fore the  last  turned  in ;  "  a  sad  accident !  My  miserable 
schooner  seems  to  be  deserted  by  its  patron  saint.  Then  your 
poor  carpenter — !" 

"  Yes,  he  was  a  good  fellow  enough  with  a  saw,  or  an  adze," 
answered  Spike,  yawning.  "But  we  get  used  to  such  things 
at  sea.  It's  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  carpenter  expended 
Good-night,  Senor  Don  "Wan  ;  in  the  morning  we'll  be  at  that 
gold  ag'iu." 


4  44  JiCR     I'lEK. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


'  She's  in  a  scene  of  nature's  war, 
The  winds  and  waters  are  at  strife  ; 
And  both  with  her  contending  for 
The  brittle  thread  of  human  life." 

Miss  Gould. 


Spike  was  sleeping  hard  in  his  berth,  quite  early  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  before  the  return  of  light,  indeed,  when  he 
suddenly  started  up,  nibbed  his  eyes,  and  sprang  upon  deck 
like  a  man  alarmed.  He  had  heard,  or  fancied  he  had  heard, 
a  cry.  A  voice,  once  well  known  and  listened  to,  seemed  to 
call  him  in  the  very  portals  of  his  ear.  At  first  he  had  listened 
to  its  words  in  wonder,  entranced  like  the  bird  by  the  snake, 
the  tones  recalling  scenes  and  persons  that  had  once  possessed 
a  strong  control  over  his  rude  feelings.  Presently  the  voice 
became  harsher  in  its  utterance,  and  it  said : 

"  Stephen  Spike,  awake !  The  hour  is  getting  late,  and  you 
have  enemies  nearer  to  you  than  you  imagine.  Awake,  Ste- 
phen, awake !" 

When  the  captain  was  on  his  feet,  and  had  plunged  his 
head  into  a  basin  of  water  that  stood  ready  for  him  in  the 
stateroom,  he  could  not  have  told,  for  his  life,  whether  he  had 
been  dreaming  or  waking,  whether  what  he  had  heard  was  the 
result  of  a  feverish  imagination,  or  of  the  laws  of  nature.  The 
call  haunted  him  all  that  morning,  or  until,  events  of  import- 
ance so  pressed  upon  him  as  to  draw  his  undivided  attention 
to  them  alone. 

It  was  not  yet  day.  The  men  wrere  still  in  heavy  sleep,  ly- 
ing about  the  decks,  for  thev  avoided  the  small  and  crowded 


JACK     TIER.  445 

forecastle  in  that  warm  climate,  and  the  night  was,  apparently, 
at  its  deepest  hour.  Spike  walked  forward  to  look  for  the  man 
charged  with  the  anchor-watch.  It  proved  to  be  Jack  Tier, 
who  was  standing  near  the  galley,  his  arms  folded  as  usual, 
apparently  watching  the  few  signs  of  approaching  day  that 
were  beginning  to  be  apparent  in  the  western  sky.  The  cap- 
tain was  in  none  of  the  best  humors  with  the  steward's  assist- 
ant ;  but  Jack  had  unaccountably  got  an  ascendency  over  his 
commander,  which  it  was  certainly  very  unusual  for  any  sub- 
ordinate in  the  Swash  to  obtain.  Spike  had  deferred  more  to 
Mulford  than  to  any  mate  he  had  ever  before  employed ;  but 
this  wras  the  deference  due  to  superior  information,  manners, 
and  origin.  It  was  common-place,  if  not  vulgar  ;  whereas,  the 
ascendency  obtained  by  little  Jack  Tier  was,  even  to  its  subject, 
entirely  inexplicable.  lie  was  unwilling  to  admit  it  to  himselt 
in  the  most  secret  manner,  though  he  had  begun  to  feel  it  on 
\\\  occasions  which  brought  them  in  contact,  and  to  submit  to 
it  as  a  thing  not  to  be  averted. 

"Jack  Tier,"  demanded  the  captain,  now  that  he  found  him- 
self once  more  alone  with  the  other,  desirous  of  obtaining  his 
opinion  on  a  point  that  harassed  him,  though  he  knew  not 
why ;  "  Jack  Tier,  answer  me  one  thing.  Do  you  believe  that 
we  saw  the  form  of  a  dead  or  of  a  living  man  at  the  foot  of  the 
lighthouse  ?" 

"  The  dead  are  never  seen  leaning  against  walls  in  that  man- 
ner, Stephen  Spike,"  answered  Jack,  coolly,  not  even  taking 
the  trouble  to  uncoil  his  arms.  "  What  you  saw  wTas  a  living 
man  ;  and  you  wTould  do  well  to  be  on  your  guard  against  him. 
Harry  Mulford  is  not  your  friend — and  there  is  reason  for  it." 

"  Harry  Mulford,  and  living  !  How  can  that  be,  Jack  ?  You 
know  the  port  in  which  he  chose  to  run." 

"  I  know  the  rock  on  which  you  chose  to  abandon  him,  Cap- 
tain Spike." 

"  If  so,  how  could  he  be  living  and  at  the  Dry  Tortugas  ? 
The  thing  is  impossible  !" 


44G  JACK     TIER. 

"  The  thing  is  so.  You  saw  Harry  Mulford,  living  and  well, 
and  ready  to  hunt  you  to  the  gallows.  Beware  of  him,  then  ; 
and  beware  of  his  handsome  wife !" 

"  Wife  !  the  fellow  has  no  wife — he  has  always  professed  to 
be  a  single  man  !" 

'•  The  man  is  married — and  I  bid  you  beware  of  his  hand- 
some wife.     She,  too,  will  be  a  witness  ag'in  you." 

"  This  will  be  news,  then,  for  Rose  Budd.  I  shall  delight  in 
telling  it  to  her,  at  least." 

"'Twill  be  no  news  to  Hose  Budd.'  She  was  present  at  the 
wedding,  and  will  not  be  taken  by  surprise.  Rose  loves  Harry 
too  well  to  let  him  marry,  and  she  not  present  at  the  wed- 
ding." 

"  Jack,  you  talk  strangely !  "What  is  the  meaning  of  all 
this  ?  I  am  captain  of  this  craft,  and  will  not  be  trifled  with — 
tell  me  at  once  your  meaning,  fellow !" 

"  My  meaning  is  simple  enough,  and  easily  told.  Rose  Budd 
is  the  wife  of  Harry  Mulford." 

"  You're  dreaming,  fellow,  or  are  wishing  to  trifle  with  me  !" 

"  It  may  be  a  dream,  but  it  is  one  that  will  turn  out  to  be 
true.  If  they  have  found  the  Poughkeepsie  sloop-of-war,  as  I 
make  no  doubt  they  have  by  this  time,  Mulford  and  Rose  are 
man  and  wife." 

"Fool !  you  know  not  what  you  say  !  Rose  is,  at  this  mo- 
ment, in  her  berth,  sick  at  heart  on  account  of  the  young  gen- 
tleman who  preferred  to  live  on  the  Florida  Reef  rather  than 
to  sail  in  the  Molly !" 

"  Rose  is  not  in  her  berth,  sick  or  well ;  neither  is  she  on 
board  this  brig  at  all.  She  went  off  in  the  lighthouse  boat  to 
deliver  her  lover  from  the  naked  rock — and  well  did  she  suc- 
ceed in  so  doing.  God  was  of  her  side,  Stephen  Spike  ;  and  a 
body  seldom  fails,  with  such  a  friend  to  support  one." 

Spike  was  astounded  at  these  words,  and  not  less  so  at  the 
cool  and  confident  manner  with  which  they  were  pronounced. 
Jack  spoke  in  a  certain  dogmatical,  oracular  manner,  it  is  true, 


JACK      TIER.  447 

one  that  might  have  lessened  his  authority  with  a  person  over 
whom  he  Lad  less  influence;  but  this  iu  no  degree  diminished 
its  effect  on  Spike.  On  the  contrary,  it  even  disposed  the 
captain  to  yield  an  implicit  faith  to  what  he  heard,  and  all  so 
much  the  more  because  the  facts  he  was  told  appeared  of 
themselves  to  be  nearly  impossible.  It  was  half  a  minute  be- 
fore he  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  surprise  to  continue 
the  discourse. 

"  The  lighthouse  boat !"  Spike  then  slowly  repeated.  "  Why, 
fellow,  you  told  me  the  lighthouse  boat  went  adrift  from  your 
own  hands  !" 

"So  it  did,"  answered  Jack,  coolly,  "since  I  cast  off  the 
painter — and  what  is  more,  went  in  it." 

"  You  !  This  is  impossible.  You  are  telling  me  a  fabricated 
lie.  If  you  had  gone  away  in  that  boat,  how  could  you  now 
be  here  ?     No,  no — it  is  a  miserable  lie,  and  Rose  is  below  !" 

"  Go  and  look  into  her  stateroom,  and  satisfy  yourself  with 
your  own  eyes  " 

Spike  did  as  was  suggested.  He  went  below,  took  a  lamp 
that  was  always  suspended,  lighted,  in  the  main  cabin,  and, 
without  ceremony,  proceeded  to  Rose's  stateroom,  where  he 
soon  found  that  the  bird  had  really  flown.  A  direful  execration 
followed  this  discovery,  one  so  loud  as  to  awaken  Mrs.  Budd 
and  Biddy.  Determined  not  to  do  things  by  halves,  he  broke 
open  the  door  of  the  widow's  stateroom,  and  ascertained  that 
the  person  he  sought  wras  not  there.  A  fierce  explosion  of  oaths 
and  denunciations  followed,  which  produced  an  answer  in  the 
customary  screams.  In  the  midst  of  this  violent  scene,  how- 
ever, questions  were  put,  and  answers  obtained,  that  not  only 
served  to  let  the  captain  know  that  Jack  had  told  him  nothing 
but  truth,  but  to  put  an  end  to  every  thing  like  amicable  rela- 
tions between  himself  and  the  relict  of  his  old  commander. 
Until  this  explosion,  appearances  had  been  observed  between 
them  ;  but,  from  that  moment,  there  must  necessarily  be  an  end 
of  all  professions  of  even  civility.    Spike  was  never  particularly 


448  JACK     TIEK. 

refined  in  his  intercourse  with  females,  but  he  now  threw  aside 
even  its  pretension.  His  rage  was  so  great,  that  he  totally  for- 
got his  manhood,  and  lavished  on  both  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy, 
epithets  that  were  altogether  inexcusable,  and  many  of  which 
it  will  not  do  to  repeat.  Weak  and  silly  as  was  the  widow,  she 
was  not  without  spirit ;  and  on  this  occasion  she  was  indisposed 
to  submit  to  all  this  unmerited  abuse  in  silence.  Biddy,  as 
usual,  took  her  cue  from  her  mistress ;  and  between  the  two, 
their  part  of  the  wordy  conflict  was  kept  up  with  a  very  re- 
spectable degree  of  animation. 

"  I  know  you — I  know  you,  now  !"  screamed  the  widow,  at 
the  top  of  her  voice  ;  "and  you  can  no  longer  deceive  me,  un- 
worthy son  of  Neptune  as  you  are !  You  are  unfit  to  be  a 
lubber,  and  would  be  log-booked  for  an  or'nary  by  every  gentle- 
man on  board  ship.  You,  a  full-jiggered  seaman  !  No,  you 
are  not  even  half-jiggered,  sir ;  and  I  tell  you  so  to  your  face." 

"  Yes,  and  it  isn't  half  that  might  be  tould  the  likes  of  yees !" 
put  in  Biddy,  as  her  mistress  stopped  to  breathe.  "  And  it's 
Miss  Rose  you'd  have  for  a  wife,  when  Biddy  Noon  would  be 
too  good  for  ye  !  We  knows  ye,  and  all  about  ye,  and  can  give 
yer  history  as  complate  from  the  day  ye  was  born  down  to  the 
prisent  moment,  and  not  find  a  good  word  to  say  in  yer  favor 
in  all  that  time — and  a  precious  time  it  is,  too,  for  a  gentleman 
that  would  marry  pretthy,  young  Miss  Rose !  Och !  I  scorn 
to  look  at  ye,  yer  so  ugly  !" 

"  And  trying  to  persuade  me  you  were  a  friend  of  my  poor, 
dear  Mr.  Budd,  whose  shoe  you  are  unworthy  to  touch,  and 
who  had  the  heart  and  soul  for  the  noble  profession  you  dis- 
grace," cut  in  the  widow,  the  moment  Biddy  gave  her  a  chance, 
by  pausing  to  make  a  wry  face  as  she  pronounced  the  word 
"  ugly."  "  I  now  believe  you  capasided  them  poor  Mexicans,  in 
order  to  get  their  money  ;  and  the  moment  we  cast  anchor  in  a 
road-side  I'll  go  ashore,  and  complain  of  you  for  murder,  I  will." 

"  Do,  Missus  dear,  and  I'll  be  your  bail,  will  I,  and  swear  to 
all  that  happened,  and  more  too.     Och  !  yer  a  wretch,  to  wish 


JACK      TIER.  449 

to  be  the  husband  of  Miss  Rose,  and  she  so  young-  and  prettby, 
and  you  so  ould  and  ugly  !" 

"  Come  away — come  away,  Stephen  Spike,  and  do  not  stand 
wrangling  with  women,  when  you  and  your  brig,  and  all  that 
belongs  to  you,  are  in  danger,"  called  out  Jack  Tier  from  the 
companion-way.  "  Day  is  come ;  and  what  is  much  worse  for 
you,  your  most  dangerous  enemy  is  coming  with  it." 

Spike  was  almost  livid  with  rage,  and  ready  to  burst  out  in 
awful  maledictions ;  but  at  this  summons  he  sprang  to  the 
ladder,  and  was  on  deck  in  a  moment.  At  first,  he  felt  a  strong 
disposition  to  wreak  his  vengeance  on  Tier ;  but,  fortunately 
for  the  latter,  as  the  captain's  foot  touched  the  quarter-deck, 
his  eye  fell  on  the  Poughkeepsie,  then  within  half  a  league  of 
the  Swash,  standing  in  towards  the  reef,  though  fully  half  a 
mile  to  leeward.  This  spectre  drove  all  other  subjects  from  his 
mind,  leaving  the  captain  of  the  Swash  in  the  only  character  in 
which  he  could  be  said  to  be  respectable,  in  that  of  a  seaman. 
Almost  instinctively  he  called  all  hands ;  then  he  gave  one 
brief  minute  to  a  survey  of  his  situation. 

It  was,  indeed,  time  for  the  Swash  to  be  moving.  There  she 
lay,  with  three  anchors  dowrn,  including  that  of  the  schooner, 
all  she  had,  in  fact,  with  the  exception  of  her  best  bower,  and 
one  kedge,  with  the  purchases  aloft,  in  readiness  for  hook- 
ing on  to  the  wreck,  and  all  the  extra  securities  up  that  had 
been  given  to  the  masts.  As  for  the  sloop-of-war,  she  was  under 
the  very  same  canvas  as  that  with  which  she  had  come  out 
from  the  Dry  Tortugas,  or  her  three  topsails,  spanker,  and  jib; 
but  most  of  her  other  sails  were  loose,  even  to  her  royals  and 
flying-jibs;  though  closely  gathered  into  their  spars  by  means 
of  the  running  gear.  In  a  word,  every  sailor  would  know,  at  a 
glance,  that  the  ship  was  merely  waiting  for  the  proper  moment 
to  spread  her  wings,  when  she  would  be  flying  through  the 
water  at  the  top  of  her  speed.  The  weather  looked  dirty,  and 
the  wind  was  gradually  increasing,  threatening  to  blow  heavily 
as  the  day  advanced. 


450  JACK     TIER. 

"  Unshackle,  unshackle  !"  shouted  Spike  to  the  boatswain, 
who  was  the  first  man  that  appeared  on  deck.  "  The  bloody 
sloop-of-war  is  upon  us,  and  ther©  is  not  a  moment  to  lose. 
We  must  get  the  brig  clear  of  the  ground  in  the  shortest  way 
we  can,  and  abandon  every  thing.  Unshackle,  and  cast  oft, 
for'ard  and  aft,  men." 

A  few  minutes  of  almost  desperate  exertion  succeeded.  No 
men  work  like  sailors,  when  the  last  are  in  a  hurry,  their  efforts 
being  directed  to  counteracting  squalls,  and  avoiding  emergen- 
cies of  the  most  pressing  character.  Thus  was  it  now  with  the 
crew  of  the  Swash.  The  clanking  of»chains  lasted  but  a  min- 
ute, when  the  parts  attached  to  the  anchors  were  thrust  through 
the  hawse-holes,  or  were  dropped  into  the  water  from  other 
parts  of  the  brig.  This  at  once  released  the  vessel,  though  a 
great  deal  remained  to  be  done  to  clear  her  for  working,  and 
to  put  her  in  the  best  trim. 

"  Away  with  this  out-hauler !"  again  shouted  Spike,  casting 
loose  the  main-brails  as  he  did  so ;  "  loose  the  jibs  !" 

All  went  on  at  once,  and  the  Swash  moved  away  from  the 
grave  of  the  poor  carpenter  with  the  ease  and  facility  of  motion 
that  marked  all  her  evolutions.  Then  the  topsail  was  let  fall, 
and  presently  all  the  upper  squaresails  were  sheeted  home,  and 
hoisted,  and  the  fore-tack  was  hauled  aboard.  The  Molly  was 
soon  alive,  and  jumping  into  the  seas  that  met  her  with  more 
power  than  was  common,  as  she  drew  out  from  under  the  shel- 
ter of  the  reef  into  rough  water.  From  the  time  when  Spike 
gave  his  first  order,  to  that  when  all  his  canvas  was  spread,  was 
just  seven  minutes. 

The  Poughkeepsie,  with  her  vastly  superior  crew,  was  not 
idle  the  while.  Although  the  watch  below  was  not  disturbed, 
she  tacked  beautifully,  and  stood  off  the  reef,  in  a  line  parallel 
to  the  course  of  the  brig,  and  distant  from  her  about  half  a 
mile.  Then  sail  was  made,  her  tacks  having  been  boarded  in 
stays.  Spike  knew  the  play  of  his  craft  was  short  legs,  for  she 
was  so  nimble  in  her  movements  that  he  believed  she  could  <zo 


JACK     TIER.  451 

about  in  half  the  time  that  would  be  required  for  a  vessel  of  the 
Poughkeepsie' s  length.  "  Ready  about,"  was  his  cry,  therefore, 
when  less  than  a  mile  distant  from  the  reef — "  ready  about, 
and  let  her  go  round."  Round  the  Molly  did  go,  like  a  top, 
being  full  on  the  other  tack  in  just  fifty-six  seconds.  The 
movement  of  the  corvette  was  more  stately,  and  somewhat 
more  deliberate.  Still,  she  stayed  beautifully,  and  both  Spike 
and  the  boatswain  shook  their  heads,  as  they  saw  her  coming 
into  the  wind  with  her  sails  all  lifting  and  the  sheets  flowing. 

"  That  fellow  will  fore-reach  a  cable's  length  before  he  gets 
about !"  exclaimed  Spike.  "  lie  will  prove  too  much  for  us  at 
this  sport !  Keep  her  away,  my  man — keep  the  brig  away  for 
the  passage.  We  must  run  through  the  reef,  instead  of  trusting 
ourselves  to  our  heels  in  open  water." 

The  brig  was  kept  away  accordingly,  and  sheets  were  eased 
off,  and  braces  just  touched  to  meet  the  new  line  of  sailing. 
As  the  wind  stood,  it  was  possible  to  lay  through  the  passage 
on  an  easy  bowline,  though  the  breeze,  which  was  getting  to  be 
fresher  than  Spike  wished  it  to  be,  promised  to  haul  more  to 
the  southward  of  east,  as  the  day  advanced.  Nevertheless,  this 
was  the  Swash's  best  point  of  sailing,  and  all  on  board  of  her 
had  strong  hopes  of  her  being  too  much  for  her  pursuer,  could 
she  maintain  it.  Until  this  feeling  began  to  diffuse  itself  in  the 
brig,  not  a  countenance  was  to  be  'een  on  her  decks  that  did 
not  betray  intense  anxiety  ;  but  now  something  like  grim  smiles 
passed  among  the  crew,  as  their  craft  seemed  rather  to  fly  than 
force  her  way  through  the  water,  towards  the  entrance  of  the 
passage  so  often  adverted  to  in  this  narrative. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Poughkeepsie  was  admirably  sailed 
•md  handled.  Everybody  was  now  on  deck,  and  the  first-lieu- 
tenant had  taken  the  trumpet.  Captain  Mull  was  a  man  of 
method,  and  a  thorough  man-of-war's  man.  Whatever  he  did 
was  done  according  to  rule,  and  with  great  system.  Just  as 
the  Swash  was  about  to  enter  the  passage,  the  drum  of  the 
Poughkeepsie  beat  to   quarters.      No  sooner  were  the  men 


452  JACK     TIER. 

mustered,  in  the  leeward,  or  the  starboard  batteries,  than  orders 
were  sent  to  cast  loose  the  guns,  and  to  get  them  ready  for  ser- 
vice. Owing  to  the  more  leeward  position  of  his  vessel,  and 
to  the  fact  that  she  always  head-reached  so  much  in  stays,  Cap- 
tain Mull  knew  that  she  would  not  lose  much  by  luffing  into 
the  wind,  or  by  making  half-boards,  while  he  might  gain  every 
thing  by  one  well-directed  shot. 

The  strife  commenced  by  the  sloop-of-war  firing  her  weather 
bow-gun,  single-shotted,  at  the  Swash.  No  damage  was  done, 
though  the  fore-yard  of  the  brig  had  a  very  narrow  escape. 
This  experiment  was  repeated  three  times,  without  even  a 
rope-yarn  being  carried  away,  though  the  gun  was  pointed  by 
Wallace  himself,  and  well  pointed,  too.  But  it  is  possible  for  a 
shot  to  come  very  near  its  object  and  still  to  do  no  injury. 
Such  was  the  fact  on  this  occasion,  though  the  "  ship's  gentle- 
man" was  a  good  deal  mortified  by  the  result.  Men  look  so 
much  at  success  as  the  test  of  merit,  that  few  pause  to  inquire 
into  the  reasons  of  failures,  though  it  frequently  happens  that 
adventures  prosper  by  means  of  their  very  blunders.  Captain 
Mull  now  determined  on  a  half-board,  for  his  ship  was  more  to 
leeward  than  he  desired.  Directions  were  given  to  the  officers 
in  the  batteries  to  be  deliberate,  and  the  helm  was  put  down. 
As  the  ship  shot  into  the  wind,  each  gun  was  fired,  as  it  could 
be  brought  to  bear,  until  the  last  of  them  all  was  discharged. 
Then  the  course  of  the  vessel  was  changed,  the  helm  being 
righted  before  the  ship  had  lost  her  way,  and  the  sloop-of-war 
fell  off  again  to  her  course. 

All  this  was  done  in  such  a  short  period  of  time,  as  scarcely 
to  cause  the  Poughkeepsie  to  lose  any  thing,  while  it  did  the 
Swash  the  most  serious  injury.  The  guns  had  been  directed 
at  the  brig's  spars  and  sails,  Captain  Mull  desiring  no  more 
than  to  capture  his  chase,  and  the  destruction  they  produced 
•-.iloft  was  such,  as  to  induce  Spike  and  his  men,  at  first,  to 
imagine  that  the  whole  hamper  above  their  heads  was  about  to 
zome  clattering  down  on  deck.     One  shot  carried  away  all  tbe 


JACK     TIER.  453 

weather  foretopmast  rigging  of  the  brig,  and  would  no  doubt 
have  brought  about  the  loss  of  the  mast,  if  another,  that  almost 
instantly  succeeded  it,  had  not  cut  the  spar  itself  in  two,  bringing 
down,  as  a  matter  of  course,  every  thing  above  it.  Nearly  half 
of  the  mainmast  was  gouged  out  of  that  spar,  and  the  gaff  was 
taken  fairly  out  of  its  jaws.  The  forcyard  was  cut  in  the  slings, 
and  various  important  ropes  were  carried  away  in  different 
parts  of  the  vessel. 

Flight,  under  such  circumstances,  was  impossible,  unless 
some  extraordinary  external  assistance  was  to  be  obtained. 
This  Spike  saw  at  once,  and  he  had  recourse  to  the  only  expe- 
dient that  remained ;  which  might  possibly  yet  save  him.  The 
guns  were  still  belching  forth  their  smoke  and  flames,  when  he 
shouted  out  the  order  to  put  the  helm  hard  up.  The  width  of 
the  passage  in  which  the  vessels  were  was  not  so  great  but  that 
he  might  hope  to  pass  across  it,  and  to  enter  a  channel  among 
the  rocks,  which  was  favorably  placed  for  such  a  purpose,  ere 
the  sloop-of-wTar  could  overtake  him.  Whither  that  channel 
led,  what  water  it  possessed,  or  whether  it  were  not  a  shallow 
cul-de-sac,  were  all  facts  of  which  Spike  was  ignorant.  The 
circumstances,  however,  would  not  admit  of  an  alternative. 

Happily  for  the  execution  of  Spike's  present  design,  nothing 
from  aloft  had  fallen  into  the  water,  to  impede  the  brig's  way. 
Forward,  in  particular,  she  seemed  all  wreck;  her  foreyard 
having  come  down  altogether,  so  as  to  encumber  the  forecastle, 
while  her  topmast,  with  its  dependent  spars  and  gear,  was  sus- 
pended but  a  short  distance  above.  Still,  nothing  had  gone 
over  the  side,  so  as  actually  to  touch  the  water,  and  the  craft 
obeyed  her  helm  as  usual.  Away  she  went,  then,  for  the  lateral 
opening  in  the  reef  just  mentioned,  driven  ahead  by  the  pressure 
of  a  strong  breeze  on  her  sails,  which  still  offered  large  surfaces 
to  the  wiud,  at  a  rapid  rate.  Instead  of  keeping  away  to  fol- 
low, the  Poughkeepsie  maintained  her  luff,  and  just  as  the 
Swash  entered  the  unknown  passage,  iuto  which  she  was  blindly 
plunging,  the  sloop-of-war  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to 


4-54  JACK     TIER, 

windward,  and  standing  directly  across  her  stern.  Nothing 
would  have  been  easier,  now,  than  for  Captain  Mull  to  destroy 
his  chase ;  but  humanity  prevented  his  firing.  He  kuew  that 
her  career  must  be  short,  and  he  fully  expected  to  see  her  anchor ; 
when  it  would  be  easy  for  him  to  take  possession  with  his  boats. 
With  this  expectation,  indeed,  he  shortened  sail,  furling  topgal- 
lantsails,  and  hauling  up  his  courses.  By  this  time,  the  wind 
had  so  much  freshened  as  to  induce  him  to  think  of  putting  in 
a  reef,  and  the  step  now  taken  had  a  double  object  in  view. 

To  the  surprise  of  all  on  board  the  man-of-war,  the  brig  con- 
tinued on,  until  she  was  fully  a  mile  distant,  finding  her  way 
deeper  and  deeper  among  the  mazes  of  the  reef  without  meeting 
with  any  impediment.  This  fact  induced  Captain  Mull  to  order 
his  Paixhans  to  throw  their  shells  beyond  her,  by  way  of  a  hint 
to  anchor.  While  the  guns  were  getting  ready,  Spike  stood  on 
boldly,  knowing  it  was  neck  or  nothing,  and  beginning  to  feel 
a  faint  revival  of  hope,  as  he  found  himself  getting  further  and 
further  from  his  pursuers,  and  the  rocks  not  fetching  him  up 
Even  the  men,  who  had  begun  to  murmur  at  what  seemed  to 
them  to  be  risking  too  much,  partook,  in  a  slight  degree,  of  the 
same  feeling,  and  began  to  execute  the  order  they  had  received, 
to  try  to  get  the  launch  into  the  water,  with  some  appearance 
of  an  intention  to  succeed.  Previously,  the  work  could  scarcely 
be  said  to  go  on  at  all ;  but  two  or  three  of  the  older  seamen 
now  bestirred  themselves,  and  suggestions  were  made  and  at- 
tended to,  that  promised  results.  But  it  was  no  easy  thing  to 
get  the  launch  out  of  a  half-rigo-ed  brig,  that  had  lost  her  fore- 
yard,  and  which  carried  nothing  square  abaft.  A  derrick  was 
used  in  common  to  lift  the  stern  of  the  boat;  but  a  derrick 
would  now  be  useless  aft,  without  an  assistant  forward.  While 
these  things  were  in  discussion  under  the  superintendence  of  the 
boatswain,  and  Spike  wras  standing  between  the  knightheads, 
conning  the  craft,  the  sloop-of-war  let  fly  the  first  of  her  hollow 
shot.  Down  came  the  hurtling  mass  upon  the  Swash,  keeping 
Rvery  head  elevated  and  all  eyes  looking  for  the  dark  object,  as 


JACK     TIER.  455 

it  went  booming  through  the  air  above  their  heads.  The  shot 
passed  fully  a  mile  to  leeward,  where  it  exploded.  This  great 
range  had  been  given  to  the  first  shot,  with  a  view  to  admonish 
the  captain  how  long  he  must  continue  under  the  guns  of  the 
ship,  and  as  advice  to  come  to.  The  second  gun  followed  im- 
mediately. Its  shot  was  seen  to  ricochet  directly  in  a  line  with 
the  brig,  making  leaps  of  about  half  a  mile  in  length.  It  struck 
<he  water  about  fifty  yards  astern  of  the  vessel,  bounded  directly 
over  her  decks,  passing  through  the  mainsail  and  some  of  the 
fallen  hamper  forward,  and  exploded  about  a  hundred  yards 
ahead.  As  usually  happens  with  such  projectiles,  most  of  the 
fragments  were  either  scattered  laterally,  or  went  on,  impelled 
by  the  original  momentum. 

The  effect  of  this  last  gun  on  the  crew  of  the  Swash  was 
instantaneous  and  deep.  The  faint  gleamings  of  hope  vanished 
at  once,  and  a  lively  consciousness  of  the  desperate  nature  of 
their  condition  succeeded  in  every  mind.  The  launch  was  for- 
gotten, and,  after  conferring  together  for  a  moment,  the  men 
went  in  a  body,  with  the  boatswain  at  their  head,  to  the  fore- 
castle, and  offered  a  remonstrance  to  their  commander,  on  the 
subject  of  holding  out  any  longer,  under  circumstances  so  very 
hazardous,  and  which  menaced  their  lives  in  so  many  different 
ways.  Spike  listened  to  them  with  eyes  that  fairly  glared  with 
fury.  lie  ordered  them  back  to  their  duty  in  a  voice  of  thun- 
der, tapping  the  breast  of  his  jacket,  where  he  was  known  to 
carry  revolvers,  with  a  significance  that  could  convey  but  one 
meaning. 

It  is  wonderful  the  ascendency  that  men  sometimes  obtain 
over  their  fellows,  by  means  of  character,  the  habits  of  command, 
and  obedience,  and  intimidation.  Spike  was  a  stern  discipli- 
narian, relying  on  that  and  ample  pay  for  the  unlimited  control 
he  often  found  it  necessary  to  exercise  over  his  crew.  On  the 
present  occasion,  his  people  were  profoundly  alarmed,  but  ha- 
bitual deference  and  submission  to  their  leader  counteracted  the 
feeling,  and  held  them  in  suspense.     They  were  fully  aware  of 


4  5  G  JACK     TIE  U. 

the  nature  of  the  position  they  occupied  in  a  legal  sense,  and 
were  deeply  reluctant  to  increase  the  appearances  of  crimu  ;  but 
most  of  them  had  been  extricated  from  so  many  grave  difficul 
ties  in  former  instances,  by  the  coolness,  nerve,  and  readiness 
of  the  captain,  that  a  latent  ray  of  hope  was  perhaps  dimly 
shining  in  the  rude  breast  of  every  old  sea-dog  among  them. 
As  a  consequence  of  these  several  causes,  they  abandoned  their 
remonstrance,  for  the  moment  at  least,  and  made  a  show  of  re- 
turning to  their  duty — though  it  was  in  a  sullen  and  moody 
manner. 

It  was  easier,  however,  to  make  a  show  of  hoisting  out  tne 
launch,  than  to  effect  the  object.  This  was  soon  made  appa- 
rent, on  trial,  and  Spike  himself  gave  the  matter  up.  lie  or- 
dered the  yawl  to  be  lowered,  got  alongside,  and  to  be  prepared 
for  the  reception  of  the  crew,  by  putting  into  it  a  small  pro- 
vision of  food  and  water.  All  this  time  the  brig  was  rushing 
madly  to  leeward,  among  rocks  and  breakers,  without  any  other 
guide  than  that  which  the  visible  dangers  afforded.  Spike 
knew  no  more  where  he  was  going  than  the  meanest  man  in 
his  vessel.  His  sole  aim  was  to  get  away  from  his  pursuers, 
and  to  save  his  neck  from  the  rope.  He  magnified  the  danger 
of  punishment  that  he  really  ran,  for  he  best  knew  the  extent 
and  nature  of  his  crimes,  of  which  the  few  that  have  been  laid 
before  the  reader,  while  they  might  have  been  amongst  the 
most  prominent,  as  viewed  through  the  statutes  and  interna- 
tional law,  were  far  from  the  gravest  he  had  committed  in  the 
vyes  of  morals. 

About  this  time  the  Senor  Montefalderon  went  forward  to 
.confer  with  Spike.  The  calmness  of  this  gentleman's  de- 
meanor, the  simplicity  and  coolness  of  his  movements,  denoted 
a  conscience  that  saw  no  particular  ground  for  alarm.  He 
wished  to  escape  captivity,  that  he  might  continue  to  serve  his 
country,  but  no  other  apprehension  troubled  him. 

"  Do  j'ou  intend  to  trust  yourself  in  the  yawl,  Don 
Esteban  ?"  demanded    the   Mexican,  quietly.      "If  so,  is  she 


JACK     TIER.  457 

not  too  small  to  contain  so  many  as  we  shall  make  alto- 
gether ?" 

Spike's  answer  was  given  in  a  low  voice  ;  and  it  evidently 
came  from  a  very  husky  throat. 

"Speak  lower,  Don  Wan,"  he  said.  "The  boat  would  be 
greatly  overloaded  with  all  hands  in  it,  especially  among  the 
breakers,  and  blowing  as  it  does ;  but  we  may  leave  some  of 
the  party  behind." 

"  The  brig  must  go  on  the  rocks,  sooner  or  later,  Don  Este- 
bau ;  when  she  does,  she  will  go  to  pieces  in  an  hour." 

"I  expect  to  hear  her  strike  every  minute,  Senor;  the  mo- 
ment she  does,  we  must  be  off.  I  have  had  my  eye  on  that 
ship  for  some  time,  expecting  to  see  her  lower  her  cutters  and 
gigs  to  board  us.  You  will  not  be  out  of  the  way,  Don  Wan  ; 
but  there  is  no  need  of  being  talkative  on  the  subject  of  our 
escape." 

Spike  now  turned  his  back  on  the  Mexican,  looking  anxiously 
ahead,  with  the  desire  to  get  as  far  into  the  reef  as  possible 
with  his  brig,  which  he  conned  with  great  skill  and  coolness. 
The  Senor  Montefalderon  left  him.  With  the  chivalry  and 
consideration  of  a  man  and  a  gentleman,  he  went  in  quest  of 
Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy.  A  hint  sufficed  for  them,  and,  gather- 
ing together  a  few  necessaries,  they  were  in  the  yawl  in  the 
next  three  minutes.  This  movement  was  unseen  by  Spike,  or 
he  might  have  prevented  it.  His  eyes  were  now  riveted  on 
the  channel  ahead.  It  had  been  fully  his  original  intention  to 
make  off  in  the  boat  the  instant  the  brig  struck,  abandoning 
not  only  Don  Juan,  with  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy  to  their  fates, 
but  most  of  the  crew.  A  private  order  had  been  given  to  the 
boatswain,  and  three  of  the  ablest-bodied  among  the  seamen, 
each  and  all  of  whom  kept  the  secret  with  religious  fidelity,  as 
it  was  believed  their  own  personal  safety  might  be  connected 
with  the  success  of  this  plan. 

Nothing  is  so  contagious  as  alarm.  It  requires  not  only 
great  natural  steadiness  of  nerve,  but  much  acquired  firmness, 

20 


458  JACK     TIER. 

to  remain  unmoved  when  sudden  terror  lias  seized  on  the  minda 
cf  those  around  us.  Habitual  respect  had  prevented  the  crew 
from  interfering  with  the  movements  of  the  Mexican,  who  not 
only  descended  into  the  boat  with  his  female  companions  un- 
interrupted, hut  also  took  with  him  the  little  bag  of  doubloons 
which  fell  to  his  share  from  the  first  raising  of  the  schooner 
Josh  and  Jack  Tier  assisted  in  getting  Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy 
over  the  side,  and  both  took  their  own  places  in  the  yawl  as 
soon  as  this  pious  duty  was  discharged.  This  served  as  a  hint 
to  others  near  at  hand ;  and  man  after  man  left  his  work  to 
steal  into  the  yawl,  until  every  living  being  had  disappeared 
from  the  deck  of  the  Swash,  Spike  himself  excepted.  The  man 
at  the  wheel  had  been  the  last  to  desert  his  post,  nor  would  he 
have  done  so  then,  but  for  a  signal  from  the  boatswain,  with 
whom  he  was  a  favorite. 

It  is  certain  there  was  a  searet  desire  among  the  people  of  the 
Swash,  who  were  now  crowded  into  a  boat  not  large  enough 
to  contain  more  than  half  their  number  with  safety,  to  push  off 
from  the  brig's  side,  and'  abandon  her  commander  and  owner 
to  his  fate.  All  had  passed  so  soon,  however,  and  events  suc- 
ceeded each  other  with  so  much  rapidity,  that  little  time  was 
given  for  consultation.  Habit  kept  them  in  their  places,  though 
the  appearances  around  them  were  strong  motives  for  taking 
care  of  themselves. 

Notwithstanding  the  time  necessary  to  relate  the  foregoing 
events,  a  quarter  of  an  hour  had  not  elapsed,  from  the  moment 
when  the  Swash  entered  this  unknown  channel  among  the 
rocks,  ere  she  struck.  No  sooner  was  her  helm  deserted  than 
she  broached-to,  and  Spike  was  in  the  act  of  denouncing  the 
steerage,  ignorant  of  its  cause,  when  the  brig  was  thrown, 
broadside-to,  on  a  sharp,  angular  bed  of  rocks.  It  was  fortu 
nate  for  the  boat,  and  all  in  it,  that  it  was  brought  to  leeward 
by  the  broaching-to  of  the  vessel,  and  that  the  water  was  still 
sufficiently  deep  around  them  to  prevent  the  waves  from  break- 
ing.    Breakers  there  were,  however,  in  thousands,  on  everv 


JACK     TIER.  459 

.  side ;  and  the  seamen  understood  that  their  situation  was  al- 
most desperately  perilous,  without  shipwreck  coming  to  in 
crease  the  danger. 

The  storm  itself  was  scarcely  more  noisy  and  boisterous  than 
was  Spike,  wheu  he  ascertained  the  manner  in  which  his  peo- 
ple had  behaved.  At  first,  he  believed  it  was  their  plan  to 
abandon  him  to  his  fate  ;  but,  on  rushing  to  the  lee-gangway, 
Don  Juan  Montefaldefon  assured  him  that  no  such  intention 
existed,  and  that  he  would  not  allow  the  boat  to  be  cast  off 
until  the  captain  was  received  on  board.  This  brief  respite 
gave  Spike  a  moment  to  care  for  his  portion  of  the  doubloons ; 
and  he  rushed  to  his  stateroom  to  secure  them,  together  with 
his  quadrant. 

The  grinding  of  the  brio-'s  bottom  on  the  coral,  announced 
a  speedy  breaking  up  of  the  craft,  while  her  commander  was 
thus  employed.  So  violent  were  some  of  the  shocks  with 
which  she  came  down  on  the  hard  bed  in  which  she  was  now 
cradled,  that  Spike  expected  to  see  her  burst  asunder,  while  he 
was  yet  on  her  decks.  The  cracking  of  timbers  told  him  that 
all  was  over  with  the  Swash,  nor  had  he  got  back  as  far  as  the 
gangway  with  his  prize,  before  he  saw  plainly  that  the  vessel 
had  broken  her  back,  as  it  is  termed,  and  that  her  plank-sheer 
was  opening  in  a  way  that  threatened  to  permit  a  separation 
of  the  craft  into  two  sections,  one  forward  and  the  other  aft. 
Notwithstanding  all  these  portentous  proofs  that  the  minutes 
of  the  Molly  were  numbered,  and  the  danger  that  existed  of 
his  being  abandoned  by  his  crew,  Spike  paused  a  moment,  ere 
he  went  over  the  vessel's  side,  to  take  a  hasty  survey  of  the 
reef.  His  object  was  to  get  a  general  idea  of  the  position  of 
the  breakers,  with  a  view  to  avoid  them.  As  much  of  the  in- 
terest of  that  which  is  to  succeed  is  connected  with  these  par- 
ticular dangers,  it  may  be  well  to  explain  their  character,  along 
with  a  few  other  points  of  a  similar  bearing. 

The  brig  had  gone  ashore  fully  two  miles  within  the  passage 
she  had  entered,  and  which,  indeed,  terminated  at  the  very 


4G0 


JACK     TIER. 


spat  where  she  had  struck.  The  Poughkeepsie  "was  standing 
off  and  on,  in  the  main  channel,  with  her  boats  iu  the  water, 
evidently  preparing  to  carry  the  brig  in  that  mode.  As  for  the 
breakers,  they  whitened  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  in  all  direc- 
tions around  the  wreck  but  two,  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
The  passage  in  which  the  Poughkeepsie  was  standing  to  and 
fro  was  clear  of  tbem,  of  course ;  and  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
to  the  noithward,  Spike  saw  that  he  should  be  in  open  water, 
or  altogether  on  the  northern  side  of  the  reef,  could  he  only 
get  there.  The  gravest  dangers  would  exist  in  the  passage, 
which  led  among  breakers  on  all  sides,  and  very  possibly  among 
rocks  so  near  the  surface  as  absolutely  to  obstruct  the  way. 
In  one  sense,  however,  the  breakers  were  useful.  By  avoiding 
them  as  much  as  possible,  and  by  keeping  in  the  unbroken 
water,  the  boat  would  be  running  in  the  channels  of  the  reef, 
and  consequently  would  be  the  safer.  The  result  of  the  sur- 
vey, short  as  it  was,  and  it  did  not  last  a  minute,  was  to  give 
Spike  something  like  a  plan  ;  and  when  he  went  over  the  side, 
and  got  into  the  boat,  it  was  with  a  determination  to  work  his 
way  out  of  the  reef  to  its  northern  edge,  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  then  to  skirt  it  as  near  as  he  could,  in  his  flight  towards 
the  Dry  Tortugas. 


JACK     TIER.  401 


CHAPTER   XV 

"  The  screams  of  rage,  the  groan,  the  strife, 
The  blow,  the  grasp,  the  horrid  cry, 
The  panting,  throttled  prayer  for  life, 

The  dying's  heaving  sigh, 
The  murderer's  curse,  the  dead  man's  fixed,  still  glare, 
And  fear's  and  death's  cold  sweat— they  all  are  there." 

Maithew  Lee. 

It  was  high  time  that  Captain  Spike  should  arrive  when  his 
foot  touched  the  bottom  of  the  yawl.  The  men  were-  getting 
impatient  and  anxious  to  the  last  degree,  and  the  power  of 
Seiior  Montefalderon  to  control  them  was  lessening  each  in- 
stant. They  heard  the  rending  of  timber,  and  the  grinding  on 
the  coral,  even  more  distinctly  than  the  captain  himself,  and 
feared  that  the  brig  would  break  up  while  they  lay  alongside 
of  her,  and  crush  them  amid  the  ruins.  Then  the  spray  of  the 
seas  that  broke  over  the  weather  side  of  the  brig,  fell  like  rain 
upon  them  ;  and  everybody  in  the  boat  was  already  as  wet  as 
if  exposed  to  a  violent  shower.  Ii,  was  well,  therefore,  for  Spike 
that  he  descended  into  the  boat  as  he  did,  for  another  minute's 
delay  might  have  brought  about  his  own  destruction. 

Spike  felt  a  chill  at  his  heart  when  he  looked  about  him  and 
saw  the  condition  of  the  yawl.  So  crowded  were  the  stern- 
sheets  into  which  he  had  descended,  that  it  was  with  difficulty 
he  found  room  to  place  his  feet ;  it  being  his  intention  to  steer, 
Jack  was  ordered  to  get  into  the  eyes  of  tne  boat,  in  order  to 
give  him  a  seat.  The  thwarts  were  crowded,  and  three  or  four 
of  the  people  had  placed  themselves  in  the  very  bottom  of  the 
little  craft,  in  order  to  be  as  much  as  possible  out  of  the  way, 
as  well  as  in  readiness  to  bail  out  water.     So  seriously,  indeed. 


•iO'2  JACK     TIER. 

were  all  the  seamen  impressed  with  the  gravity  of  this  lasl 
duty,  that  nearly  every  man  had  taken  with  him  some  vessel  fit 
for  such  a  purpose.  Rowing  was  entirely  out  of  the  question, 
there  being  no  space  for  the-  movement  of  the  arms.  The  yawl 
was  too  low  in  the  water,  moreover,  for  such  an  operation  in  so 
heavy  a  sea.  In  all,  eighteen  persons  were  squeezed  into  a  little 
craft  that  would  have  been  sufficiently  loaded,  for  moderate 
weather  at  sea,  with  its  four  oarsmen  and  as  many  sitters  in  the 
stern-sheets,  with,  perhaps,  one  in  the- eyes  to  bring  her  more 
on  an  even  keel.  In  other  words,  she  had  twice  the  weight  in 
her,  in  living  freight,  that  it  would  have  been  thought  prudent 
to  receive  in  so  small  a  craft,  in  an  ordinary  time,  in  or  out  of 
a  port.  In  addition  to  the  human  beings  enumerated,  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  baggage,  nearly  every  individual  having  had  the 
forethought  to  provide  a  few  clothes  for  a  change.  The  food 
and  water  did  not  amount  to  much,  no  more  having  been 
provided  than  enough  for  the  purposes  of  the  cajjtain,  together 
with  the  four  men  with  whom  it  had  been  his  intention  to 
abandon  the  brig.  The  effect  of  all  this  cargo  was  to  bring  the 
yawl  quite  low  in  the  water ;  and  every  seafaring  man  in  her 
had  the  greatest  apprehensions  about  her  being  able  to  float  at 
all  when  she  got  out  from  under  the  lee  of  the  Swash,  or  into 
the  troubled  water.  Try  it  she  must,  however,  and  Spike,  in  a 
reluctant  and  hesitating  manner,  gave  the  final  order  to  "  Shove 
off!" 

The  yawl  carried  a  lugg,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  boats  at 
sea,  and  the  first  blast  of  the  breeze  upon  it  satisfied  Spike  that 
his  present  enterprise  was  one  of  the  most  dangerous  of  any 
in  which  he  had  ever  been  engaged.  The  puffs  of  wind  were 
quite  as  much  as  the  boat  would  bear ;  but  this  he  did  not 
mind,  as  he  was  running  off  before  it,  and  there  was  little  danger 
of  the  yawl  capsizing  with  such  a  weight  in  her.  It  was  also 
an  advantage  to  have  swift  way  on,  to  prevent  the  combing 
waves  from  shooting  into  the  boat,  though  the  wind  itself  scarce 
outstrips  the   send  of  the  sea  in  a  stiff  blow.     As  the  yawl 


JACK     TIER.  4(iJ 

cleared  the  brig  and  began  to  feel  the  united  power  of  the  wind 
and  waves,  the  following  short  dialogue  occurred  between  the 
boatswain  and  Spike. 

"  I  dare  not  keep  my  eyes  off  the  breakers  ahead,"  the  cap- 
tain commenced,  "  and  must  trust  to  you,  Strand,  to  report  what 
is  going  on  among  the  man-of-war's  men.  What  is  the  ship 
about  ?" 

"  Reefing  her  topsails  just  now,  sir.  All  three  are  on  the 
caps,  and  the  vessel  is  laying-to,  in  a  manner." 

"  And  her  boats  ?" 

"  I  see  none,  sir — ay,  ay,  there  they  come  from  alongside  of 
her  in  a  little  fleet !  There  are  four  of  them,  sir,  and  all  are 
coming  down  before  the  wind,  wing  and  wing,  carrying  their 
luggs  reefed." 

"  Ours  ought  to  be  reefed  by  rights,  too,  but  we  dare  -not  stop 
to  do  it ;  and  these  infernal  combing  seas  seem  ready  to  glance 
aboard  us  with  all  the  way  we  can  gather.  Stand  by  to  bail, 
men ;  we  must  pass  through  a  strip  of  white  water — there  is  no 
help  for  it,     God  send  that  we  go  clear  of  the  rocks  !" 

All  this  was  fearfully  true.  The  adventurers  were  not  yet 
more  than  a  cable's  length  from  the  brig,  and  they  found  them- 
selves so  completely  environed  with  the  breakers  as  to  be  com- 
pelled to  go  through  them.  No  man  in  his  senses  would  ever 
have  come  into  such  a  place  at  all,  except  in  the  most  unavoid 
able  circumstances ;  and  it  was  with  a  species  of  despair  that 
the  seamen  of  the  yawl  now  saw  their  little  craft  go  plunging 
into  the  foam. 

But  Spike  neglected  no  precaution  that  experience  or  skill 
could  suggest.  He  had  chosen  his  spot  with  coolness  and  judg- 
ment. As  the  boat  rose  on  the  seas  he  looked  eagerly  ahead, 
and  by  giving  it  a  timely  sheer,  he  hit  a  sort  of  channel,  where 
there  was  sufficient  water  to  carry  them  clear  of  the  rock,  and 
where  the  breakers  were  less  dangerous  than  in  the  shoaler 
places.  The  passage  lasted  about  a  minute ;  and  so  serious  was 
it,  that  scarce  an  individual  breathed  until  it  was  effected.     No 


464  JACK     TIER. 

tiuman  skill  could  prevent  the  water  from  combing  in  over  the 
gunwales ;  and  when  the  danger  was  passed,  the  yawl  was  a 
third  filled  with  water.  There  was  no  time  or  place  to  pause, 
but  on  the  little  craft  was  dragged  almost  gunwale  to,  the  breeze 
coming  against  the  higg  in  puffs  that  threatened  to  take  the  mast 
out  of  her.  All  hands  were  bailing;  and  even  Biddy  used  her 
hands  to  aid  in  throwing  out  the  water. 

"This  is  no  time  to  hesitate,  men,"  said  Spike,  sternly.  "Every 
thing  must  go  overboard  but  the  food  and  water.  Away  with 
them  at  once,  and  with  a  will." 

It  was  a  proof  how  completely  all  hands  were  alarmed  by 
this,  the  first  experiment  in  the  breakers,  that  not  a  man  stayed 
his  hand  a  single  moment,  but  each  threw  into  the  sea,  without 
an  instant  of  hesitation,  every  article  he  had  brought  with  him 
and  had  hoped  to  save.  Biddy  parted  with  the  carpet-bag,  and 
Senor  Montefalderon,  feeling  the  importance  of  example,  com- 
mitted to  the  deep  a  small  writing-desk  that  he  had  placed  on 
his  knees.  The  doubloons  alone  remained,  safe  in  a  little  locker 
where  Spike  had  deposited  them  along  with  his  own. 

"What  news  astern,  boatswain  ?"  demanded  the  captain,  as 
soon  as  this  imminent  danger  was  passed,  absolutely  afraid  to 
turn  his  eyes  off  the  dangers  ahead  for  a  single  instant.  "  How 
come  on  the  man-of-war's  men  ?" 

"  They  are  running  down  in  a  body  towards  the  wreck,  though 
one  of  their  boats  does  seem  to  be  sheering  out  of  the  line,  as 
if  getting  into  our  wake.  It  is  hard  to  say,  sir,  for  they  are  still 
a  good  bit  to  windward  of  the  wreck." 

"And  the  Molly,  Strand?" 

"  Why,  sir,  the  Molly  seems  to  be  breaking  up  fast ;  as  well 
as  I  can  see,  she  has  broke  in  two  just  abaft  the  forechains, 
and  cannot  hold  together  in  any  shape  at  all  many  minutes 
longer." 

This  information  drew  a  deep  groan  from  Spike,  and  the  eye 
of  every  seaman  in  the  boat  was  turned  in  melancholy  on  the 
object  they  were  so  fast  leaving  behind  them.     The  yawl  could 


JACK     TIER.  465 

not  be  said  to  be  sailing  very  rapidly,  considering  the  power  of 
the  wind,  which  was  a  little  gale,  for  she  was  much  too  deep 
for  that,  but  she  left  the  wreck  so  fast  as  already  to  render  ob- 
;ects  on  board  her  indistinct.  Everybody  saw  that,  like  an  over- 
burdened steed,  she  had  more  to  get  along  with  than  she  could 
well  bear ;  and,  dependent  as  seamen  usually  are  on  the  judg- 
ment and  orders  of  their  superiors,  even  in  the  direst  emer- 
gencies, the  least  experienced  man  in  her  saw  that  their  chances 
of  final  escape  from  drowning  were  of  the  most  doubtful  nature. 
The  men  looked  at  each  other  in  a  way  to  express  their  feelings  • 
and  the  moment  seemed  favorable  to  Spike  to  confer  with  his 
confidential  sea-dogs  in  private ;  but  more  white  water  was  also 
ahead,  and  it  was  necessary  to  pass  through  it,  since  no  opening 
was  visible  by  which  to  avoid  it.  He  deferred  his  purpose,  con 
sequently,  until  this  danger  was  escaped. 

On  this  occasion  Spike  saw  but  little  opportunity  to  select  a 
place  to  get  through  the  breakers,  though  the  spot,  as  a  whole, 
was  not  of  the  most  dangerous  kind.  The  reader  will  under- 
stand that  the  preservation  of  the  boat  at  all,  in  white  water, 
was  owing  to  the  circumstance  that  the  rocks  all  around  it  lay 
so  near  the  surface  of  the  sea  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
agitating  the  element  very  seriously,  and  to  the  fact  that  she 
was  near  the  lee  side  of  the  reef.  Had  the  breakers  been  of  the 
magnitude  of  those  which  are  seen  where  the  deep  rolling  bil- 
lows of  the  ocean  first  meet  the  weather-side  of  shoals  or  rocks, 
a  craft  of  that  size,  and  so  loaded,  could  not  possibly  have  passed 
the  first  line  of  white  water  without  filling.  As  it  was,  how- 
ever, the  breakers  she  had  to  contend  with  were  sufficiently 
formidable,  and  they  brought  with  them  the  certainty  that  the 
boat  was  in  imminent  danger  of  striking  the  bottom  at  any 
moment.  Places  like  those  in  which  Mulford  had  waded  on 
the  reef,  while  it  was  calm,  would  now  have  proved  fatal  to  the 
strongest  frame,  since  human  powers  were  insufficient  long  to 
withstand  the  force  of  such  waves  as  did  glance  over  even  these 
shallows. 


£G6  JACK     TIEll. 

<l  Look  out !"  cried  Spike,  as  the  boat  again  plunged  in 
among  the  white  water.     "Keep  bailing,  men — keep  bailing." 

The  men  did  bail,  and  the  danger  was  over  almost  as  soon  as 
encountered.  Something  like  a  cheer  burst  out  of  the  chest  of 
Spike,  when  he  saw  deeper  water  around  him,  and  fancied  he 
could  now  trace  a  channel  that  would  carry  him  quite  beyond 
the  extent  of  the  reef.  It  was  arrested,  only  half  uttered,  how- 
ever, by  a  communication  from  the  boatswain,  who  sat  on  a 
midship  thwart,  his  arms  folded,  and  his  eye  on  the  brig  and 
the  boats. 

"  There  goes  the  Molly's  masts,  sir !  Both  have  gone  to- 
gether ;  and  as  good  sticks  was  they,  before  them  bombshells 
passed  through  our  rigging,  as  was  ever  stepped  in  a  keelson." 

The  cheer  was  changed  to  something  like  a  groan,  while 
a  murmur  of  regret  passed  through  the  boat. 

"  What  news  from  the  man-of-wars  men,  boatswain  ?  Do 
they  still  stand  down  on  a  mere  wreck  ?" 

"  No,  sir ;  they  seem  to  give  it  up,  and  are  getting  out  their 
oars  to  pull  back  to  their  ship.  A  pretty  time  they'll  have  of 
it,  too.  The  cutter  that  gets  to  windward  half  a  mile  in  an 
hour,  ag'in  such  a  sea,  and  such  a  breeze,  must  be  well  pulled 
and  better  steered.     One  chap,  however,  sir,  seems  to  hold  on." 

Spike  now  ventured  to  look  behind  him,  commanding  an  ex- 
perienced hand  to  take  the  helm.  In  order  to  do  this  he  was 
obliged  to  change  places  with  the  man  he  had  selected  to  come 
aft,  which  brought  him  on  a  thwart  alongside  of  the  boat- 
swain and  one  or  two  other  of  his  confidants.  Here  a  whispered 
conference  took  place,  which  lasted  several  minutes,  Spike  ap- 
pearing to  be  giving  instructions  to  the  men. 

By  this  time  the  yawl  was  more  than  a  mile  from  the  wreck, 
all  the  man-of-war  boats  but  one  had  lowered  their  sails,  and 
were  pulling  slowly  and  with  great  labor  back  towards  the  ship, 
the  cutter  that  kept  on,  evidently  laying  her  course  after  the 
yawl,  instead  of  standing  on  towards  the  wreck.  The  brig  was 
breaking  up  fast,  with  every  probability  that  nothing  would  be 


JACK      TIER.  467 

left  of  her  in  a  few  more  minutes.  As  for  the  yawl,  while  clear 
of  the  white  water,  it  got  along  without  receiving  many  seas 
aboard,  though  the  men  in  its  bottom  wTere  kept  bailing  with- 
out intermission.  It  appeared  to  Spike  that  so  long  as  they 
remained  on  the  reef,  and  could  keep  clear  of  breakers — a  most 
difficult  thing,  however — they  should  fare  better  than  if  in 
deeper  water,  where  the  swell  of  the  sea,  and  the  combing  of 
the  waves,  menaced  so  small  and  so  deep-loaded  a  craft  with 
serious  danger.  As  it  was,  two  or  three  men  could  barely  keep 
the  boat  clear,  working  incessantly,  and  much  of  the  time  with 
a  foot  or  two  of  water  in  her. 

Josh  and  Simon  had  taken  their  seats,  side  by  side,  with  that 
sort  of  dependence  and  submission  that  causes  the  American 
black  to  abstain  from  mingling  with  the  whites  more  than 
might  appear  seemly.  They  were  squeezed  on  to  one  end  of 
the  thwart  by  a  couple  of  robust  old  sea-dogs,  who  were  two 
of  the  very  men  with  whom  Spike  had  been  in  consultation. 
Beneath  that  very  thwart  was  stowed  another  confidant,  to 
whom  communications  had  also  been  made.  These  men  had 
sailed  long  in  the  Swash,  and  having  been  picked  up  in  various 
ports,  from  time  to  time,  as  the  brig  had  wanted  hands,  they 
were  of  nearly  as  many  different  nations  as  they  were  persons. 
Spike  had  obtained  a  great  ascendency  over  them  by  habit  and 
authority,  and  his  suggestions  w  >re  now  received  as  a  sort  of 
law.  As  soon  as  the  conference  was  ended,  the  captain  returned 
to  the  helm. 

A  minute  more  passed,  during  which  the  captain  was  anxious- 
ly survejung  the  reef  ahead,  and  the  state  of  things  astern. 
Ahead  was  more  white  water — the  last  before  they  should  get 
clear  of  the  reef;  and  astern  it  was  now  settled  that  the  cutter 
that  held  on  through  the  dangers  of  the  place,  was  in  chase  of 
the  yawl.  That  Mulford  was  in  her  Spike  made  no  doubt ;  and 
the  thought  embittered  even  his  present  calamities.  But  the 
moment  had  arrived  for  something  decided.  The  white  water 
ahead  was  much  more  formidable  than  any  they  had  passed ; 


408  JACK     TIER. 

and  the  boldest  seaman  there  gazed  at  it  with  dread.  Spike 
made  a  sign  to  the  boatswain,  and  commenced  the  execution  of 
his  dire  project. 

"  I  say,  you  Josh,"  called  out  the  captain,  in  the  authorita- 
tive tones  that  are  so  familiar  to  all  on  board  a  ship,  "pull  in 
that  fender  that  is  dragging  alongside." 

Josh  leaned  over  the  gunwale,  and  reported  that  there  was 
no  fender  out.  A  malediction  followed,  also  so  familiar  to 
those  acquainted  with  ships,  and  the  black  was  told  to  look 
again.  This  time,  as  had  been  expected,  the  negro  leaned  with 
his  head  and  body  far  over  the  side  of  the  yawl,  to  look  for  that 
which  had  no  existence,  when  two  of  the  men  beneath  the 
thwart  shoved  his  legs  after  them.  Josh  screamed,  as  he  found 
himself  going  into  the  water,  with  a  sort  of  confused  conscious- 
ness of  the  truth ;  and  Spike  called  out  to  Simon  to  "  catch 
hold  of  his  brother-nigger."  The  cook  bent  forward  to  obey, 
when  a  similar  assault  on  his  legs  from  beneath  the  thwart, 
sent  him  headlong  after  Josh.  One  of  the  younger  seamen, 
who  was  not  in  the  secret,  sprang  up  to  rescue  Simon,  who 
grasped  his  extended  hand,  when  the  too  generous  fellow  was 
pitched  headlong  from  the  boat. 

All  this  occurred  in  less  than  ten  seconds  of  time,  and  so  un- 
expectedly and  naturally,  that  not  a  soul  beyond  those  who 
were  in  the  secret,  had  the  least  suspicion  it  was  any  thing  but 
an  accident.  Some  water  was  shipped,  of  necessity,  but  the 
boat  was  soon  bailed  free.  As  for  the  victims  of  this  vile  con- 
spiracy, they  disappeared  amid  the  troubled  waters  of  the  reef, 
struggling  with  each  other.  Each  and  all  met  the  common' 
fate  so  much  the  sooner,  from  the  manner  in  which  they  im- 
peded their  own  efforts. 

The  yawl  was  now  relieved  from  about  five  hundred  pounds 
of  the  weight  it  had  carried — Simon  weighing  two  hundred 
alone,  and  the  youngish  seaman  being  large  and  full.  So  in- 
tense does  human  selfishness  get  to  be,  in  moments  of  great 
emergency,  that  it  is  to  be  feared  most  of  those  who  remained, 


JACK     TIER.  -tG9 

secretly  rejoiced  that  they  were  so  far  benefited  by  the  loss  of 
their  fellows.  The  Sefior  Montefalderon  was  seated  on  tho 
aftermost  thwart,  with  his  legs  in  the  stern-sheets,  and  conse- 
quently with  his  back  towards  the  negroes,  and  he  fully  believed 
that  what  had  happened  was  purely  accidental. 

"  Let  us  lower  our  sail,  Don  Esteban,"  he  cried,  eagerly, 
"  and  save  the  poor  fellows." 

Something  very  like  a  sneer  gleamed  on  the  dark  counte- 
nance of  the  captain,  but  it  suddenly  changed  to  a  look  of  assent. 

"  Good !"  he  said,  hastily — "  spring  forward,  Don  Wan,  and 
lower  the  sail — stand  by  the  oars,  men  !" 

Without  pausing  to  reflect,  the  generous-hearted  Mexican 
stepped  on  a  thwart,  and  began  to  walk  rapidly  forward,  steady- 
ing himself  by  placing  his  hands  on  the  heads  of  the  men.  He 
was  suffered  to  get  as  far  as  the  second  thwart,  or  past  most  of 
the  conspirators,  when  his  legs  were  seized  from  behind.  The 
truth  now  flashed  on  him,  and  grasping  two  of  the  men  in  his 
front,  who  knew  nothing  of  Spike's  dire  scheme,  he  endeavored 
to  save  himself  by  holding  to  their  jackets.  Thus  assailed, 
those  men  seized  others  with  like  intent,  and  an  awful  struggle 
filled  all  that  part  of  the  craft.  At  this  dread  instant  the  boat 
glanced  into  the  white  water,  shipping  so  much  of  the  element 
as  nearly  to  swamp  her,  and  taking  so  wild  a  sheer  as  nearly 
to  broach-to.  This  last  circumstance  probably  saved  her,  fear- 
ful as  was  the  danger  for  the  moment.  Everybody  in  the 
middle  of  the  yawl  was  rendered  desperate  by  the  amount  and 
nature  of  the  danger  incurred,  and  the  men  from  the  bottom 
rose  in  their  might,  underneath  the  combatants,  when  a  com- 
mon plunge  was  made  by  all  who  stood  erect,  one  dragging 
overboard  another,  each  a  good  deal  hastened  by  the  assault 
from  beneath,  until  no  less  than  five  were  gone.  Spike  got  his 
helm  up,  the  boat  fell  off,  and  away  from  the  spot  it  flew,  clear- 
ing the  breakers,  and  reaching  the  northern  vall-like  margin 
of  the  reef  at  the  next  instant.  There  was  now  a  moment  when 
those  who  remained  could  breathe,  and  dared  to  look  behind  them. 


470  JACK     TIER. 

The  great  plunge  had  been  made  in  water  so  shoal  that  the 
boat  had  barely  escaped  being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  coral. 
Had  it  not  been  so  suddenly  relieved  from  the  pressure  of  near 
a  thousand  pounds  in  weight,  it  is  probable  that  this  calamity 
would  have  befallen  it,  the  Avater  received  on  board  contribu- 
ting so  much  to  weigh  it  down.  The  struggle  between  these 
victims  ceased,  however,  the  moment  they  went  over.  Find- 
ing bottom  for  their  feet,  they  released  each  other,  in  the  des- 
perate hope  of  prolonging  life  by  wading.  Two  or  three  held 
out  their  arms,  and  shouted  to  Spike  to  return  and  pick  them 
up.  This  dreadful  scene  lasted  but  a  single  instant,  for  the 
waves  dashed  one  after  another  from  his  feet,  continually  forcing 
them  all,  as  they  occasionally  regained  their  footing,  towards 
the  margin  of  the  reef,  and  finally  washing  them  off  into  deep 
water.  No  human  power  could  enable  a  man  to  swim  back  to 
the  rocks,  once  to  leeward  of  them,  in  the  face  of  such  seas,  and 
so  heavy  a  blow ;  and  the  miserable  wretches  disappeared  in 
succession,  as  their  strength  became  exhausted,  in  the  depths  of 
the  Gulf. 

Not  a  word  had  been  uttered  while  this  terrific  scene  was  m 
the  course  of  occurrence ;  not  a  word  was  uttered  for  some 
time  afterwards.  Gleams  of  grim  satisfaction  had  been  seen  on 
the  countenances  of  the  boatswain  and  his  associates,  when  the 
success  of  their  nefarious  project  was  first  assured ;  but  they 
soon  disappeared  in  looks  of  horror,  as  they  witnessed  the  strug- 
gles of  the  drowning  men.  Nevertheless,  human  selfishness 
was  strong  within  them  all,  and  none  there  was  so  ignorant  as 
not  to  perceive  how  much  better  were  the  chances  of  the  yawl 
uow  than  it  had  been  on  quitting  the  wreck.  The  weight  of 
a  large  ox  had  been  taken  from' it,  counting  that  of  all  the 
eight  men  drowned ;  and  as  for  the  water  shipped,  it  was  soon 
bailed  back  again  into  the  sea.  Not  only,  therefore,  was  the 
yawl  in  a  better  condition  to  resist  the  waves,  but  it  sailed  ma- 
terially faster  than  it  had  done  before.  Ten  persons  still  re- 
mained in  it,  however,  which  brought  it  down  in  the  water 


'JACK     TIER.  471 

below  its  proper  ]oad-line ;  and  the  speed  of  a  craft  so  small 
was  necessarily  a  good  deal  lessened  by  the  least  deviation 
from  its  best  sailing  or  rowing  trim.  But  Spike's  projects  were 
not  yet  completed. 

All  this  time  the  man-of-war's  cutter  had  been  rushing  as 
madly  through  the  breakers,  in  chase,  as  the  yawl  had  done  in 
the  attempt  to  escape.  Mulford  was,  in  fact,  on  board  it;  and 
his  now  fast  friend,  "Wallace,  was  in  command.  The  latter 
wished  to  seize  the  traitor,  the  former  to  save  the  aunt  of  his 
weeping  bride.  Both  believed  that  they  might  follow  wherever 
Spike  dared  to  lead.  This  reasoning  was  more  bold  than  judi- 
cious, notwithstanding,  since  the  cutter  was  much  larger,  and 
drew  twice  as  much  water  as  the  yawl.  On  it  came,  never- 
theless, faring  much  better  in  the  white  water  than  the  little 
craft  it  pursued,  but  necessarily  running  a  much  more  consid 
erable  risk  of  hitting  the  coral,  over  wdiich  it  was  glancing  al- 
most as  swiftly  as  the  waves  themselves ;  still  it  had  thus  far 
escaped — and  little  did  any  in  it  think  of  the  danger.  This 
cutter  pulled  ten  oars ;  was  an  excellent  sea-boat ;  had  four 
armed  marines  in  it,  in  addition  to  its  crew,  but  carried  all 
through  the  breakers,  receiving  scarcely  a  drop  of  water  on 
board,  on  account  of  the  height  of  its  wash-boards,  and  the 
general  qualities  of  the  craft.  It  may  be  well  to  add  here,  that 
the  Poughkeepsie  had  shaken  out  her  reefs,  and  was  betraying 
the  impatience  of  Captain  Mull  to  make  sail  in  chase,  by  firing 
signal-guns  to  his  boats  to  bear  a  hand  and  return.  These 
signals  the  three  boats  under  their  oars  were  endeavoring  to 
obey ;  but  Wallace  had  got  so  far  to  leeward  as  now  to  render 
the  course  he  was  pursuing  the  wisest. 

Mrs.  Budd  and  Biddy  had  seen  the  struggle  in  which  the 
Senor  Moutefalderon  had  been  lost,  in  a  sort  of  stupid  horror. 
Both  had  screamed,  as  was  their  wont,  though  neither  proba- 
bly suspected  the  truth.  But  the  fell  designs  of  Spike  ex- 
tended to  them,  as  well  as  to  those  whom  he  had  already 
destroyed.     Now  the  boat  was  in  deep  water,  running  along 


472  JVCK     TIER. 

the  margin  of  the  reef,  the  waves  were  much  increased  in  mag- 
nitude, and  the  comb  of  the  sea  was  far  more  menacing  to  the 
boat.  This  would  not  have  been  the  case  had  the  rocks  formed 
a  lee ;  but  they  did  not,  running  too  near  the  direction  of  the 
trades  to  prevent  the  billows,  that  got  up  a  mile  or  so  in  the 
offing,  from  sending  their  swell  quite  home  to  the  reef.  It  was 
this  swell,  indeed,  which  caused  the  line  of  white  water  along 
the  northern  margin  of  the  coral,  washing  on  the  rocks  by  a 
sort  of  lateral  effort,  and  breaking,  as  a  matter  of  course.  In 
many  places,  no  boat  could  have  lived  to  pass  through  it. 

Another  consideration  influenced  Spike  to  persevere.  The 
cutter  had  been  overhauling  him,  hand  over  hand,  but  since 
the  yawl  was  relieved  of  the  weight  of  no  less  than  eight  men, 
the  difference  in  the  rate  of  sailing  was  manifestly  diminished. 
The  man-of-war's  boat  drew  nearer,  but  by  no  means  as  fast  as 
it  had  previously  done.  A  point  was  now  reached  in  the  trim  of 
the  yawl,  when  a  very  few  hundreds  in  weight  might  make  the 
most  important  change  in  her  favor ;  and  this  change  the  cap- 
tain was  determined  to  produce.  By  this  time  the  cutter  was 
in  deep  water,  as  well  as  himself,  safe  through  all  the  dangers 
of  the  reef,  and  she  was  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  astern. 
On  the  whole,  she  was  gaining,  though  so  slowly  as  to  require 
the  most  experienced  eye  to  ascertain  the  fact. 

"  Madame  Budd,"  said  Spike,  in  a  hypocritical  tone,  "  we  are 
in  great  danger,  and  I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  change  your 
seat.  The  boat  is  too  much  by  the  starn,  now  we've  got  into 
deep  water,  and  your  weight  amidships  would  be  a  great  relief 
to  us.  Just  give  your  hand  to  the  boatswain,  and  he  will  help 
you  to  step  from  thwart  to  thwart,  until  you  reach  the  right 
place,  when  Biddy  shall  follow." 

Now  Mrs.  Budd  had  witnessed  the  tremendous  struggle  in 
which  so  many  had  gone  overboard,  but  so  dull  was  she  of  ap 
Drehension,  and  so  little  disposed  to  suspect  any  thing  one  half 
60  monstrous  as  the  truth,  that  she  did  not  hesitate  to  comply. 
She  was  profoundly  awed  by  the  horrors  of  the  scene  fhroiiii.li 


JACK     TIEK.  473 

which  she  was  passing,  the  raging  billows  of  the  Gulf,  as  seen 
from  so  small  a  craft,  producing  a  deep  impression  on  her ;  still 
a  lingering  of  her  most  inveterate  affectation  was  to  be  found 
in  her  air  and  language,  which  presented  a  strange  medley  of 
besetting  weakness,  and  strong,  natural,  womanly  affection. 

"Certainly,  Captain  Spike,"  she  answered,  rising.  "A  craft 
should  never  go  astern,  and  I  am  quite  willing. to  ballast  the 
boat.  We  have  seen  such  terrible  accidents  to-day,  that  all 
should  lend  their  aid  in  endeavoring  to  get  under  way,  and  in 
averting  all  possible  hamper.  Only  take  me  to  my  poor,  dear 
Rosy,  Captain  Spike,  and  every  thing  shad  be  forgotten  that 
has  passed  between  us.  This  is  not  a  moment  to  bear  malice ; 
and  I  freely  pardon  you  all  and  every  thing.  The  fate  of  our 
unfortunate  friend,  Mr.  Montefalderon,  should  teach  us  charity, 
and  cause  us  to  prepare  for  untimely  ends." 

All  the  time  the  good  widow  was  making  this  speech,  which 
she  uttered  in  a  solemn  and  oracular  sort  of  manner,  she  was 
moving  slowly  towards  the  seat  the  men  had  prepared  for  her, 
in  the  middle  of  the  boat,  assisted  with  the  greatest  care  and 
attention  by  the  boatswain  and  another  of  Spike's  confidants. 
When  on  the  second  thwart  from  aft,  and  about  to  take  her 
seat,  the  boatswain  cast  a  look  behind  him,  and  Spike  put  the 
helm  down.  The  boat  luffed  and  lurched,  of  course,  and  Mrs. 
Budd  would  probably  have  gone  overboard  to  leeward,  by  so 
sudden  and  violent  a  change,  had  not  the  impetus  thus  re- 
ceived been  aided  by  the  arms  of  the  men  wdro  held  her  two 
hands.  The  plunge  she  made  into  the  water  was  deep,  for  she 
was  a  woman  of  great  weight  for  her  stature.  Still,  she  was 
not  immediately  gotten  rid  of.  Even  at  that  dread  instant,  it 
is  probable  that  the  miserable  woman  did  not  suspect  the  truth, 
for  she  grasped  the  hand  of  the  boatswain  with  the  tenacity  of 
a  vice,  and,  thus  dragged  on  the  surface  of  the  boiling  surges, 
she  screamed  aloud  for  Spike  to  save  her.  Of  all  who  had  yet 
been  sacrificed  to  the  captain's  selfish  wish  to  save  himself,  this 
was  the  first  instance  in  which  any  had  been  heard  to  utter  a 


474  JACK     TIER. 

sound  after  falling  into  the  sea.  The  appeal  shocked  even  the 
rude  beings  around  her,  and  Biddy  chiming  iu  with  a  powerful 
appeal  to  "  save  the  missus !"  added  to  the  piteous  nature  of  the 
scene. 

"  Cast  off  her  hand,"  said  Spike  reproachfully,  "  she'll  swamp 
the  boat  by  her  struggles — get  rid  of  her  at  once !  Cut  her 
fingers  off,  if  she  won't  let  go  !" 

The  instant  these  brutal  orders  were  given,  and  that  in  a 
fierce,  impatient  tone,  the  voice  of  Biddy  was  heard  no  more. 
The  truth  forced  itself  on  her  dull  imagination,  and  she  sat  a 
witness  of  the.  terrible  scene,  in  mute  despair.  The  struggle  did 
not  last  long.  The  boatswain  drew  his  knife  across  the  wrist  of 
the  hand  that  grasped  his  owu,  one  shriek  was  heard,  and  the 
boat  plunged  into  the  trough  of  a  sea,  leaving  the  form  of  poor 
Mrs.  Budd  struggling  with  the  wave  on  its  summit,  and  amid 
the  foam  of  its  crest.  This  was  the  last  that  was  ever  seen  of 
the  unfortunate  relict. 

"  The  boat  has  gained  a  good  deal  by  that  last  discharge  of 
cargo,"  said  Spike  to  the  boatswain,  a  minute  after  they  had 
gotten  rid  of  the  struggling  woman — "  she  is  much  more  lively, 
and  is  getting  nearer  to  her  loaddine.  If  we  can  bring  her  to 
that,  I  shall  have  no  fear  of  the  man-of-war's  men ;  for  this 
yawl  is  one  of  the  fastest  boats  that  ever  floated." 

"  A  very  little  now,  sir,  would  bring  us  to  our  true  trim." 

"  Ay,  we  must  get  rid  of  more  cargo.  Come,  good  woman," 
turning  to  Biddy,  with  whom  he  did  not  think  it  worth  his  while 
to  use  much  circumlocution,  "your  turn  is  next.  It's  the  maid's 
duty  to  follow  her  mistress." 

"  I  know'd  it  must  come,"  said  Biddy,  meekly.  "  If  there  was 
no  mercy  for  the  missus,  little  could  I  look  for.  But  ye'll  not 
take  the  life  of  a  Christian  woman  widout  giving  her  so  much 
as  one  minute  to  say  her  prayers  ?" 

"Ay,  pray  away,"  answered  Spike,  his  throat  becoming  dry 
and  husky,  for,  strange  to  say,  the  submissive  quiet  of  the  Irish 
woman,  so  different  from  the  struggle  he  had  anticipated  with 


JACK     TIER.  475 

her,  rendered  him  more  reluctant  to  proceed  than  he  had  hitherto 
been  in  ail  of  that  terrible  day.  As  Biddy  kneeled  in  the  bot- 
tom of  the  stern-sheets,  Spike  looked  behind  him,  for  the  double 
purpose  of  escaping  the  painful  spectacle  at  his  feet,  and  that 
of  ascertaining  how  his  pursuers  came  on.  The  last  still  gained, 
though  very  slowly,  and  doubts  began  to  come  over  the  cap- 
tain s  mind  whether  he  could  escape  such  enemies  at  all.  He 
was  too  deeply  committed,  however,  to  recede,  and  it  was  most 
desirable  to  get  rid  of  poor  Biddy,  if  it  were  for  no  other 
motive  than  to  shut  her  mouth.  Spike  even  fancied  that 
some  idea  of  what  had  passed  was  entertained  by  those  in  the 
cutter.  There  was  evidently  a  stir  in  that  boat,  and  two  forms 
that  he  had  no  difficulty,  now,  in  recognizing  as  those  of  Wal- 
lace and  Mulford,  were  standing  on  the  grating  in  the  eyes  of 
the  cutter,  or  forward  of  the  foresail.  The  former  appeared  to 
have  a  musket  in  his  hand,  and  the  other  a  glass.  The  last 
circumstance  admonished  him  that  all  that  was  now  done 
would  be  done  before  dangerous  witnesses.  It  was  too  late  to 
draw  back,  however,  and  the  captain  turned  to  look  for  the  Irish 
woman. 

Biddy  arose  from  her  knees,  just  as  Spike  withdrew  his  eyes 
from  his  pursuers.  The  boatswain  and  another  confidant  were 
in  readiness  to  cast  the  poor  creature  into  the  sea,  the  moment 
their  leader  gave  the  signal.  The  intended  victim  saw  and  un- 
derstood the  arrangement,  and  she  spoke  earnestly  and  piteously 
to  her  murderers. 

"  It's  not  wanting  will  be  violence !"  said  Biddy,  in  a  quiet 
tone,  but  with  a  saddened  countenance.  "  I  know  it's  my  turn, 
and  I  will  save  yer  sowls  from  a  part  of  the  burden  of  this  great 
sin.  God,  and  His  Divine  Son,  and  the  Blessed  Mother  of  Jesus 
have  mercy  on  me  if  it  be  wrong ;  but  I  would  far  radder  jump 
into  the  saa  widout  having  the  rude  hands  of  man  on  me,  than 
have  the  dreadful  sight  of  the  missus  done  over  ag'in.  It's  a 
fearful  thing  is  wather,  and  sometimes  we  have  too  little  of  it, 
and  sometimes  more  than  we  want — " 


47G  JACK     TIER. 

"Bear  a  hand,  bear  a  hand,  good  woman,"  interrupted  the 
boatswain,  impatiently.  "  We  must  clear  the  boat  of  you,  and 
the  sooner  it  is  done  the  better  it  will  be  for  all  of  us." 

"  Don't  grudge  a  poor  morthal  half  a  minute  of  life,  at  the  last 
moment,"  answered  Biddy.  "  It's  not  long  that  Til  throuble  ye, 
and  so  no  more  need  be  said." 

The  poor  creature  then  got  on  the  quarter  of  the  boat,  with- 
out any  one's  touching  her ;  there  she  placed  herself  with  her 
legs  outboard,  while  she  sat  on  the  gunwale.  She  gave  one 
moment  to  the  thought  of  arranging  her  clothes  with  womanly 
decency,  and  then  she  paused  to  gaze  with  a  fixed  eye,  and 
pallid  cheek,  on  the  foaming  wake  that  marked  the  rapid  course 
of  the  boat.  The  troughs  of  the  sea  seemed  less  terrible  to  her 
than  their  combing  crests,  and  she  waited  for  the  boat  to  descend 
into  the  next. 

"  God  forgive  ye  all  this  deed,  as  I  do  !"  said  Biddy,  earnestly ; 
and  bending  her  person  forward,  she  fell,  as  it  might  be  "  with- 
out hands,"  into  the  gulf  of  eternity.  Though  all  strained  their 
eyes,  none  of  the  men,  Jack  Tier  excepted,  ever  saw  more  of 
Biddy  Noon.  ]STor  did  Jack  see  much.  He  got  a  frightful 
glimpse  of  an  arm,  however,  on  the  summit  of  a  wave,  but  the 
motion  of  the  boat  was  too  swift,  and  the  water  of  the  ocean 
too  troubled,  tc  admit  of  aught  else. 

A  long  pause  succeeded  this  event.  Biddy's  quiet  submission 
to  her  fate  had  produced  more  impression  on  her  murderers  than 
the  desperate,  but  unavailing,  struggles  of  those  who  had  pre- 
ceded her.  Thus  it  is  ever  with  men.  When  opposed,  the 
demon  within  blinds  them  to  consequences  as  well  as  to  their 
duties ;  but,  unresisted,  the  silent  influence  of  the  image  of 
God  makes  itself  felt,  and  a  better  spirit  begins  to  prevail. 
There  was  not  one  in  that  boat  who  did  not,  for  a  brief 
space,  wish  that  poor  Biddy  had  been  spared.  With  most, 
that  feeling,  the  last  of  human  kindness  they  ever  knew,  lin- 
gered until  the  occurrence  of  the  dread  catastrophe  which,  so 
shortly  after,  closed  the  scene  of  this  state  of  being  on  their  eyes. 


JACK     TIER.  47*7 

"Jack  Tier,"  called  out  Spike,  some  five  minutes  after  Biddy- 
was  drowned,  but  not  until  another  observation  bad  made  it 
plainly  apparent  to  him  that  the  man-of-war's  men  still  con- 
tinued to  draw  nearer,  being  now  not  more  than  fair  musket- 
shot  astern. 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  Jack,  coming  quietly  out  of  his  hole, 
from  forward  of  the  mast,  and  moving  aft  as  if  indifferent  to 
the  danger,  by  stepping  lightly  from  thwart  to  thwart,  until  he 
reached  the  stern-sheets. 

"  It  is  your  turn,  little  Jack,"  said  Spike,  as  if  in  a  sort  of 
sorrowful  submission  to  a  necessity  that  knew  no  law,  "  we  can- 
not spare  you  the  room." 

"  I  have  expected  this,  and  am  ready.  Let  me  have  my  own 
way,  and  I  will  cause  you  no  trouble.  Poor  Biddy  has  taught 
me  how  to  die.  Before  I  go,  however,  Stephen  Spike,  I  must 
leave  you  this  letter.  It  is  written  by  myself,  and  addressed  to 
you.  When  I  am  gone,  read  it,  and  think  well  of  what  it  con- 
tains. And  now,  may  a  merciful  God  pardon  the  sins  of  both, 
through  love  for  His  Divine  Son.  I  forgive  you,  Stephen ;  and 
should  you  live  to  escape  from  tbose  who  are  now  bent  on 
hunting  you  to  the  death,  let  this  day  cause  you  no  grief  on  my 
account.  Give  me  but  a  moment  of  time,  and  I  will  cause  you 
no  trouble." 

Jack  now  stood  upon  the  seat  of  the  stern-sheets,  balancing 
himself  with  one  foot  on  the  stern  of  tbe  boat.  He  waited 
until  the  yawl  had  risen  to  the  summit  of  a  wave,  when  he 
looked  eagerly  for  the  man-of-war's  cutter.  At  that  moment 
she  was  lost  to  view  in  the  trough  of  the  sea.  Instead  of  spring- 
ing overboard,  as  all  expected,  he  asked  another  instant  of 
delay.  The  yawl  sank  into  the  trough  itself,  and  rose  on  the 
succeeding  billow.  Then  he  saw  the  cutter,  and  Wallace  and 
Mulford  standing  in  its  bows.  He  waved  his  hat  to  them,  and 
sprang  high  into  the  air,  with  the  intent  to  make  himself  seen  ; 
when  he  came  down,  the  boat  had  shot  her  length  away  from 
the  place,  leaving  him   to  buffet  with   the  waves.     Jack  now 


4*78  JACK     TIER. 

managed  admirably,  swimming  lightly  and  easily,  but  keeping 
his  eyes  on  the  crests  of  the  waves,  with  a  view  to  meet  the 
cutter.  Spike  now  saw  this  well-planned  project  to  avoid 
death,  and  regretted  his  own  remissness  in  not  making  sure  of 
Jack.  Everybody  in  the  yawl  was  eagerly  looking  after  the 
form  of  Tier. 

"There  he  is,  on  the  comb  of  that  sea,  rolling  over  like  a 
keg  !"  cried  the  boatswain. 

"lie's  through  it,"  answered  Spike,  "and  swimming  with 
great  strength  and  coolness." 

Several  of  the  men  started  up  involuntarily  and  simultane- 
ously to  look,  hitting  their  shoulders  and  bodies  together.  Dis- 
trust wTas  at  its  most  painful  height ;  and  bulldogs  do  not  spring 
at  the  ox's  muzzle  more  fiercely  than  those  six  men  throttled 
each  other.  Oaths,  curses,  and  appeals  for  help,  succeeded ; 
each  man  endeavoring,  in  his  frenzied  efforts,  to  throw  all  the 
others  overboard,  as  the  only  means  of  saving  himself.  Plunge 
succeeded  plunge ;  and  when  that  combat  of  demons  ended,  no 
one  remained  of  them  all  but  the  boatswain.  Spike  had  taken 
no  share  in  the  struggle,  looking  on  in  grim  satisfaction,  as  the 
Father  of  Lies  may  be  supposed  to  regard  all  human  strife, 
hoping  good  to  himself,  let  the  result  be  what  it  might  to  others. 
Of  the  five  men  who  thus  went  overboard,  not  one  escaped. 
They  drowned  each  other  by  continuing  their  maddened  con- 
flict in  an  element  unsuited  to  their  natures. 

Not  so  with  Jack  Tier.  His  leap  had  been  seen,  and  a  dozen 
eyes  in  the  cutter  watched  for  his  person,  as  that  boat  came 
foaming  down  before  the  wind.  A  shout  of  "  There  he  is !" 
from  Mulford,  succeeded ;  and  the  little  fellow  was  caught  by 
the  hair,  secured,  and  then  hauled  into  the  boat  by  the  second 
lieutenant  of  the  Poughkeepsie  and  our  young  mate. 

Others  in  the  cutter  had  noted  the  incident  of  the  hellish 
fight.  The  fact  was  communicated  to  Wallace,  and  Mulford 
said,  "  That  yawl  will  outsail  this  loaded  cutter,  with  only  two 
meu  in  it." 


JACK      TIKR. 


479 


"  Then  it  is  time  to  try  what  virtue  there  is  in  lead,"  an- 
swered Wallace.  "  Marines,  come  forward,  and  give  the  rascal 
a  volley." 

The  volley  was  fired ;  one  -ball  passed  through  the  head  of 
the  boatswain,  killing  him  dead  on  the  spot.  Another  went 
through  the  body  of  Spike.  The  captain  fell  in  the  stern-sheets, 
and  the  boat  instantly  broached-to. 

The  water  that  came  on  board  apprised  Spike  fully  of  the 
state  in  which  he  was  now  placed,  and  by  a  desperate  effort,  he 
clutched  the  tiller,  and  got  the  yawl  again  before  the  wind. 
This  could  not  last,  however.  Little  by  little  his  hold  relaxed, 
until  his  hand  relinquished  its  grasp  altogether,  and  the  wounded 
man  sank  into  the  bottom  of  the  stern-sheets,  unable  to  raise 
even  his  head.  Again  the  boat  broached-to.  Every  sea  now 
sent  its  water  aboard,  and  the  yawl  would  soon  have  filled,  had 
not  the  cutter  come  glancing  down  past  it,  and  roundin^-te 
under  its  lee,  secured  the  prize. 


PK* 


^fmmm 


4H0  JACK     T1SB, 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


"Man  hath  a  weary  pilgrimage, 
As  through  the  world  he  wends ; 
On  every  stage,  from  youth  to  age, 

Still  discontent  attends ; 
With  heaviness  he  casts  his  eye 

Upon  the  road  before, 
And  still  remembers  with  a  sigh 
The  days  that  are  no  more." 

Soutiiek. 


It  has  now  become  necessary  to  advance  the  time  three  en- 
tire days,  and  to  change  the  scene  to  Key  West.  As  this  latter 
place  may  not  be  known  to  the  world  at  large,  it  may  be  well 
to  explain  that  it  is  a  small  seaport,  situate  on  one  of  the  largest 
of  the  many  low  islands  that  dot  the  Florida  Reef,  that  has 
risen  into  notice,  or  indeed  into  existence  as  a  town,  since  the 
acquisition  of  the  Floridas  by  the  American  republic.  For 
many  years  it  was  the  resort  of  few  besides  wreckers,  and  those 
who  live  by  the  business  dependent  on  the  rescuing  and  repair- 
ing of  stranded  vessels,  not  forgetting  the  salvages.  When  it 
is  remembered  that  the  greater  portion  of  the  vessels  that  enter 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  stand  close  along  this  reef,  before  the  trades, 
for  a  distance  varying  from  one  to  two  hundred  miles,  and  that 
nearly  every  thing  which  quits  it,  is  obliged  to  beat  down  its 
rocky  coast  in  the  Gulf  Stream  for  the  same  distance,  one  is  not 
to  be  surprised  that  the  wrecks,  which  so  constantly  occur,  can 
supply  the  wants  of  a  considerable  population.  To  live  at  Key 
West  is  the  next  thing  to  being  at  sea.  The  place  has  sea  air, 
no  other  water  than  such  as  is  preserved  in  cisterns,  and  no 
soil,  or  so  little  as  to  render  even  a  head  of  lettuce  a  rarity. 
Turtle  is  abundant,  and  the  business  of  "  turtling"  forms  an  oc- 
cupation additional  to  that  of  wrecking.    As  might  be  expected, 


JACK     TIES.  4S1 

iu  such  circumstances,  a  potato  is  a  far  more  precious  thing 
than  a  turtle's  egg,  and  a  sack  of  the  tubers  would  probably  be 
deemed  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  enough  of  the  materials  of 
callipash  and  callipee  to  feed  all  the  aldermen  extant. 

Of  late  years,  the  government  of  the  United  States  has  turned 
its  attention  to  the  capabilities  of  the  Florida  Reef,  as  an  ad- 
vanced naval  station — a  sort  of  Downs,  or  St.  Helen's  Roads, 
for  the  West  Indian  seas.  As  yet  little  has  been  done  beyond 
making  the  preliminary  surveys,  but  the  day  is  not  probably 
very  distant  when  fleets  will  lie  at  anchor  among  the  islets  de- 
scribed in  our  earlier  chapters,  or  garnish  the  fine  waters  of  Key 
West.  Eor  a  long  time  it  was  thought  that  even  frigates  would 
have  a  difficulty  in  entering  and  quitting  the  port  of  the  latter, 
but  it  is  said  that  recent  explorations  have  discovered  channels 
capable  of  admitting  any  thing  that  floats.  Still,  Key  West  is 
a  town  yet  in  its  chrysalis  state,  possessing  the  promise  rather 
than  the  fruition  of  the  prosperous  days  which  are  in  reserve. 
It  may  be  well  to  add,  that  it  lies  a  very  little  north  of  the  24th 
degree  of  latitude,  and  in  longitude  quite  five  degrees  west  from 
Washington.  Until  the  recent  conquests  in  Mexico,  it  was  the 
most  southern  possession  of  the  American  government,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  continent ;  Cape  St.  Lucas,  at  the  extremity 
of  Lower  California,  however,  being  two  degrees  farther  south. 

It  will  give  the  foreign  reader  a  more  accurate  notion  of  the 
character  of  Key  West,  if  we  mention  a  fact  of  quite  recent  oc- 
currence. A  very  few  weeks  after  the  closing  scenes  of. this 
tale,  the  town  in  question  was,  in  a  great  measure,  washed 
away !  A  hurricane  brought  in  the  sea  upon  all  these  islands 
and  reefs,  water  running  in  swift  currents  over  places  that, 
within  the  memory  of  man,  were  never  before  submerged. 
The  lower  part  of  Key  West  was  converted  into  a  raging  sea, 
and  every  thing  in  that  quarter  of  the  place  disappeared.  The 
foundation  being  of  rock,  however,  when  the  ocean  retired  the 
island  came  into  view  again,  and  industry  and  enterprise  set  tc 
work  to  repair  the  injuries. 

21 


482  JACK     TIER. 

The  government  has  established  a  small  hospital  for  seamen 
at  Key  West.  Into  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  building  thus  ap- 
propriated, our  narrative  must  now  conduct  the  reader.  It 
contained  but  a  single  patient,  and  that  was  Spike.  He  was 
on  his  narrow  bed,  which  was  to  be  but  the  precursor  of  a  still 
narrower  tenement — the  grave.  In  the  room  with  the  dying 
man  were  two  females,  in  one  of  whom  our  readers  will  at  once 
recognize  the  person  of  Rose  Budd,  dressed  in  deep  mourning 
for  her  aunt.  At  first  sight,  it  is  probable  that  a  casual  spec- 
tator would  mistake  the  second  female  for  one  of  the  ordinary 
nurses  of  the  place.  Her  attire  was  well  enough,  though  worn 
awkwardly,  and  as  if  its  owner  were  not  exactly  at  ease  in  it. 
She  had  the  air  of  one  in  her  best  attire,  who  was  unaccus- 
tomed to  be  dressed  above  the  most  common  mode.  What 
added  to  the  singularity  of  her  appearance,  was  the  fact  that, 
while  she  wore  no  cap,  her  hair  had  been  cut  into  short,  gray 
bristles,  instead  of  being  long  and  turned  up,  as  is  usual  with 
females.  To  give  a  sort  of  climax  to  this  uncouth  appearance, 
this  strangedooking  creature  chewed  tobacco. 

The  woman  in  question,  equivocal  as  might  be  her  exterior, 
was  employed  in  one  of  the  commonest  avocations  of  her  sex — 
that  of  sewing.  She  held  in  her  hand  a  coarse  garment,  one 
of  Spike's,  in  fact,  which  she  seemed  to  be  intently  busy  in 
mendino- ;  although  the  work  was  of  a  quality  that  invited  the 
use  of  the  palm  and  sail-needle,  rather  than  that  of  the  thimble 
and  the  smaller  implement  known  to  seamstresses,  the  woman 
appeared  awkward  in  her  business,  as  if  her  coarse-looking  and 
dark  hands  refused  to  lend  themselves  to  an  occupation  so 
feminine.  Nevertheless,  there  were  touches  of  a  purely  woman- 
ly character  about  this  extraordinary  person,  and  touches  that 
particularly  attracted  the  attention,  and  awakened  the  sympa- 
thy of  the  gentle  Rose,  her  companion.  Tears  occasionally 
struggled  out  from  beneath  her  eyelids,  crossed  her  dark,  sun- 
burnt cheek,  and  fell  on  the  coarse  canvas  garment  that  lay  in 
her  lap.     It  was  after  one  of  these  sudden  and  strong  exhibi- 


JACK      TIER.  483 

lions  of  feeling  that  Rose  approached  her,  laid  her  own  little, 
fair  hand,  in  a  friendly  way,  though  unheeded,  on  the  other's 
shoulder,  and  spoke  to  her  in  her  kindest  and  softest  tones. 

"  I  do  really  think  he  is  reviving,  Jack,"  said  Rose,  "  and 
that  you  may  yet  hope  to  have  an  intelligent  conversation  with 
him.'' 

"  They  all  agree  he  must  die,"  answered  Jack  Tier — for  it 
was  he,  appearing  in  the  garb  of  his  proper  sex,  after  a  disguise 
that  had  now  lasted  fully  twenty  years — "  and  he  will  never 
know  who  I  am,  and  that  I  forgive  him.  He  must  think  of 
me  in  another  world,  though  he  isn't  able  to  do  it  in  this ;  but 
it  would  be  a  great  relief  to  his  soul  to  know  that  I  forgive  him." 

"  To  be  sure,  a  man  must  like  to  take  a  kind  leave  of  his 
own  wife  before  he  closes  his  eyes  forever;  and  I  dare  say  it 
"would  be  a  great  relief  to  you  to  tell  him  that  you  have  forgot- 
ten his  desertion  of  you,  and  all  the  hardships  it  has  brought 
upon  you  in  searching  for  him,  and  in  earning  your  own  liveli- 
hood as  a  common  sailor." 

"  I  shall  not  tell  him  I've  forgotten  it,  Miss  Rose  ;  that  would 
be  untrue — and  there  shall  be  no  more  deception  between  us ; 
but  I  shall  tell  him  that  Ifoi-give  him,  as  I  hope  God  will  one 
da}f  forgive  me  all  my  sins." 

"  It  is,  certainly,  not  a  light  offence  to  desert  a  wife  in  a 
foreign  land,  and  then  to  seek  to  deceive  another  woman," 
quietly  observed  Rose. 

"He's  a  willian!"  muttered  the  wife  ;  "but — but — " 

"  You  forgive  him,  Jack — yes,  I'm  sure  you  do.  You  are 
too  good  a  Christian  to  refuse  to  forgive  him." 

"I'm  a  woman  a'ter  all,  Miss  Rose  ;  and  that,  I  believe,  is  the 
truth  of  it,  I  suppose  I  ought  to  do  as  you  say,  for  the  rea- 
son you  mention ;  but  I'm  his  wife — and  once  he  loved  me, 
though  that  has  long  been  over.  When  I  first  knew  Stephen, 
I'd  the  sort  of  feelin's  you  speak  of,  and  was  a  very  different 
ereatur'  from  what  you  see  me  to-day.  Change  comes  over  ua 
all  with  years  and  sufferin'." 


484  JACK     TIER. 

Rose  did  not  answer,  but  she  stood  looking  intently  at  the 
speaker  more  than  a  minute.  Change  had,  indeed,  come  over 
her,  if  she  had  ever  possessed  the  power  to  please  the  fancy  of 
any  living  man.  Her  features  had  always  seemed  diminutive 
and  mean  for  her  assumed  sex,  as  her  voice  was  small  and 
cracked ;  but,  making  every  allowance  for  the  probabilities, 
Rose  found  it  difficult  to  imagine  that  Jack  Tier  had  ever  pos- 
sessed, even  under  the  high  advantages  of  youth  and  innocence, 
the  attractions  so  common  to  her  sex.  Her  skin  had  acquired 
the  tanning  of  the  sea;  the  expression  of  her  face  had  become 
hard  and  worldly ;  and  her  habits  contributed  to  render  those 
natural  consequences  of  exposure  and  toil  even  more  than 
usually  marked  and  decided.  By  saying  "  habits,"  however, 
we  do  not  mean  that  Jack  had  ever  drunk  to  excess,  as  hap- 
pens with  so  many  seamen,  for  this  would  have  been  doiug  her 
injustice,  but  she  smoked  and  chewed — practices  that  intoxi- 
cate in  another  form,  and  lead  nearly  as  many  to  the  grave  as 
excess  in  drinking.  Thus  all  the  accessories  about  this  singu- 
lar being,  partook  of  the  character  of  her  recent  life  and  duties. 
Her  walk  was  between  a  waddle  and  a  seaman's  roll ;  her  hands 
were  discolored  with  tar,  and  had  got  to  be  full  of  knuckles, 
and  even  her  feet  had  degenerated  into  that  fiat,  broad-toed 
form  that,  perhaps,  sooner  distinguishes  caste,  in  connection 
with  outward  appearances,  than  any  other  physical  peculiarity. 
Yet  this,  being  had  once  been  young — had  once  been  even/a?>, 
and  had  once  possessed  that  feminine  air  and  lightness  of  form, 
that  as  often  belongs  to  the  youthful  American  of  her  sex,  per- 
haps, as  to  the  girl  of  any  other  nation  on  earth.  Rose  con- 
tinued to  gaze  at  her  companion  for  some  time,  when  she 
walked  musingly  to  a  window  that  looked  out  upon  the  port. 

"I  am  not  certain  whether  it  would  do  him  good  or  not  to 
see  this  sight,"  she  said,  addressing  the  wife  kindly,  doubtful  of 
the  effect  of  her  words  even  on  the  latter.  "But  here  are  the 
sloop-of-war,  and  several  other  vessels." 

"  Ay,  she  is  there  ;  but  never  will  his  foot  be  put  on  board 


JACK     TIER.  485 

the  Swash  ag'in.  "When  he  bought  that  brig  I  was  still  young, 
and  agreeable  to  him ;  and  he  gave  her  my  maiden  name, 
which  was  Mary,  or  Molly  Swash.  But  that  is  all  changed ;  I 
wonder  he  did  not  change  the  name  with  his  change  of  feelin's." 

"Then  you  did  really  sail  in  the  brig  in  former  times,  and 
knew  the  seaman  whose  name  you  assumed  ?" 

"  Many  years.  Tier,  with  whose  name  I  made  free,  on  ac- 
count of  his  size,  and  some  resemblance  to  me  in  form,  died 
under  my  care  ;  and  his  protection  fell  into  my  hands,  which 
first  put  the  notion  into  my  head  of  hailing  as  his  representa- 
tive. Yes,  I  knew  Tier  in  the  brig,  and  Ave  were  left  ashore  at 
the  same  time  ;  I,  intentionally,  I  make  no  question ;  he,  be- 
cause Stephen  Spike  was  in  a  hurry,  and  did  not  choose  to  wait 
for  a  man.  The  poor  fellow  caught  the  yellow  fever  the  v*ery 
next  day,  and  did  not  live  eight-and-forty  hours.  So  the  world 
goes ;  them  that  wish  to  live,  die  ;  and  them  that  wants  to  die, 
live  !"' 

"  You  have  had  a  hard  time  for  one  of  your  sex,  poor  Jack- 
quite  twenty  years  a  sailor,  did  you  not  tell  me  ?" 

"  Every  day  of  it,  Miss  Rose — and  bitter  years  have  they 
been  ;  for  the  whole  of  that  time  have  I  been  in  chase  of  my 
husband,  keeping  my  own  secret,  and  slaving  like  a  horse  for  a 
livelihood." 

"You  could  not  have  been  old  when  he  left — that  is,  when 
you  parted." 

"  Call  it  by  its  true  name,  and  say  at  once,  when  he  desarted 
v.ie.  I  was  under  thirty  by  two  or  three  years,  and  wTas  still 
like  ray  own  sex  to  look  at.  All  that  is  changed  since  ;  but  I 
was  comely  then? 

"  Why  did  Captain  Spike  abandon  you,  Jack  ?  you  have 
never  told  me  that." 

"  Because  he  fancied  another.  And  ever  since  that  time  he 
has  been  fancying  others,  instead  of  remembering  me.  Had  he 
got  you,  Miss  Rose,  I  think  he  would  have  been  content  for  the 
rest  of  his  days." 


180  JACK     TIER. 

"  Be  certain,  Jack,  I  should  never  have  consented  to  marry 
Captain  Spike." 

"  You're  well  out  of  his  hands,"  answered  Jack,  sighing 
heavily,  which  was  the  most  feminine  thing  she  had  done 
during  the  whole  conversation,  "well  out  of  his  hands — 
and  God  be  praised  it  is  so.  lie  should  have  died,  before 
I  would  let  him  carry  you  off  the  island — husband  or  no  hus- 
band." 

"  It  might  have  exceeded  your  power  to  prevent  it  undei 
other  circumstances,  Jack." 

Rose  now  continued  looking  out  of  the  window  in  silence. 
Her  thoughts  reverted  to  her  aunt  and  Biddy,  and  tears  rolled 
down  her  cheeks  as  she  remembered  the  love  of  one,  and  the 
fidelity  of  the  other.  Their  horrible  fate  had  given  her  a 
shock  that,  at  first,  menaced  her  with  a  severe  fit  of  illness ; 
but  her  strong,  good  sense,  and  excellent  constitution,  both 
sustained  by  her  piety  and  Harry's  manly  tenderness,  had 
brought  her  through  the  danger,  and  left  her,  as  the  reader 
now  sees  her,  struggling  with  her  own  griefs,  in  order  to  be  of 
use  to  the  still  more  unhappy  woman  who  had  so  singularly  be- 
come her  friend  and  companion. 

The  reader  will  readily  have  anticipated  that  Jack  Tier  had 
early  made  the  females  on  board  the  Swash  her  confidants. 
Rose  had  known  the  outlines  of  her  history  from  the  first  few 
days  they  were  at  sea  together,  which  is  the  explanation  of  the 
visible  intimacy  that  had  caused  Mulford  so  much  surprise. 
Jack's  motive  in  making  his  revelations  might  possibly  have 
been  tinctured  with  jealousy,  but  a  desire  to  save  one  as  young 
and  innocent  as  Rose  was  at  its  bottom.  Few  persons  but  a 
wife  would  have  supposed  our  heroine  could  have  been  in  any 
danger  from  a  lover  like  Spike ;  but  Jack  saw  him  with  the 
eyes  of  her  own  youth,  and  of  past  recollections,  rather  than 
with  those  of  truth.  A  movement  of  the  wounded  man  first 
drew  Rose  from  the  window.  Drying  her  eyes  hastily,  she 
turned  towards  him,  fancying  she  might  prove  the  better  nurse 


JACK     TIER.  487 

of  the  two,  notwithstanding  Jack's  greater  interest  in  the  pa- 
tient. 

"  What  place  is  this — and  why  am  I  here  ?"  demanded 
Spike,  with  more  strength  of  voice  than  could  have  been  ex- 
pected, after  all  that  had  passed.  "  This  is  not  a  cabin — not 
the  Swash — it  looks  like  a  hospital.'' 

"It  is  a  hospital,  Captain  Spike,"  said  Rose,  gently  drawing 
near  the  bed ;  "you  have  been  hurt,  and  have  been  brought  to 
Key  West  and  placed  in  the  hospital.  I  hope  you  feel  better, 
and  that  you  suffer  no  pain." 

"  My  head  isn't  right — I  don't  know — every  thing  seems 
turned  round  with  me— perhaps  it  will  all  come  out  as  it 
should.     I  begin  to  remember — where  is  my  brig  ?" 

"  She  is  lost  on  the  rocks.  The  seas  have  broken  her  into 
fragments." 

"  That's  melancholy  news,  at  any  rate.  Ah !  Miss  Rose  ! 
God  bless  you — I've  had  terrible  dreams.  Well,  it's  pleasant 
to  be  among  friends — what  creature  is  that — where  does  she 
come  from  ?" 

"  That  is  Jack  Tier,"  answered  Rose,  steadily.  "  She  turns 
out  to  be  a  woman,  and  has  put  on  her  proper  dress,  in  order 
to  attend  on  you  during  your  illness.  Jack  has  never  left  your 
bedside  since  we  have  been  here." 

A  long  silence  succeeded  this  revelation.  Jack's  eyes 
twinkled,  and  she  hitched  her  body  half  aside,  as  if  to  conceal 
her  features,  where  emotions  that  were  unusual  were  at  work 
with  the  muscles.  Rose  thought  it  might  be  well  to  leave  the 
man  and  wife  alone — and  she  managed  to  get  out  of  the  room 
unobserved. 

Spike  continued  to  gaze  at  the  strange-looking  female,  who 
was  now  his  sole  companion.  Gradually  his  recollection  re- 
turned, and  with  it  the  full  consciousness  of  his  situation.  He 
might  not  have  been  fully  aware  of  the  absolute  certainty  of 
his  approaching  death,  but  he  must  have  known  that  his  wound 
was  of  a  very  grave  character,  and  that  the  result  might  early 


JACK     TIER, 


prove  fatal.  Still  that  strange  and  unknown  figure  haunted 
him ;  a  figure  that  was  so  different  from  any  he  had  ever  seen 
before,  and  which,  in  spite  of  its  present  dress,  seemed  to  belong 
quite  as  much  to  one  sex  as  to  the  other.  As  for  Jack — we  call 
Molly,  or  Mary  Swash  by  her  masculine  appellation,  not  only 
because  it  is  more  familiar,  but  because  the  other  name  seems 
really  out  of  place,  as  applied  to  such  a  person — as  for  Jack, 
then,  she  sat  with  her  face  half  averted,  thumbing  the  canvas, 
and  endeavoring  to  ply  the  needle,  but  perfectly  mute.  She 
was  conscious  that  Spike's  eyes  were  on  her ;  and  a  lingering 
feeling  of  her  sex  told  her  how  much  time,  exposure,  and  cir- 
cumstances had  changed  her  person — and  she  would  gladly 
have  hidden  the  defects  in  her  appearance. 

Mary  Swash  was  the  daughter  as  well  as  the  wife  of  a  ship- 
master. In  her  youth,  as  has  been  said  before,  she  had  even 
been  pretty,  and  down  to  the  day  when  her  husband  deserted 
her,  she  would  have  been  thought  a  female  of  a  comely  ap- 
pearance rather  than  the  reverse.  Her  hair  in  particular, 
though  slightly  coarse,  perhaps,  had  been  rich  aud  abundant ; 
and  the  change  from  the  long,  dark,  shining,  flowing  locks 
which  she  still  possessed  in  her  thirtieth  year,  to  the  short,  gray 
bristles  that  now  stood  exposed  without  a  cap,  or  covering  of 
any  sort,  was  one  very  likely  to  destroy  all  identity  of  appear- 
ance. Then  Jack  had  passed  from  what  might  be  called  youth 
to  the  verge  of  old  age,  in  the  interval  that  she  had  been  sepa- 
rated from  her  husband.  Her  shape  had  changed  entirely  ; 
her  complexion  was  utterly  gone  ;  and  her  features,  always  un- 
meaning, though  feminine  and  suitable  to  her  sex,  had  become 
hard  and  slightly  coarse.  Still  there  was  something  of  her 
former  self  about  Jack  that  bewildered  Spike ;  and  his  eyes 
continued  fastened  on  her  for  quite  u  quarter  of  an  hour  in  pro- 
found silence. 

"Give  me  some  water,"  said  the  wounded  man,  "  I  wish  some 
water  to  drink." 

Jack  arose,  filled  a  tumbler  and  brought  it  to  the  side  of  the 


JACK      TIER.  439 

bed.  Spike  took  the  glass  and  drauk,  but  the  whole  time  his 
eyes  -were  riveted  on  the  strange  nurse.  When  his  thirst  was 
appeased,  he  asked — 

"  Who  are  you  ?     How  came  you  here  ?" 

"  I  am  your  nurse.  It  is  common  to  place  nurses  at  the  bed- 
s'des  of  the  sick.1' 

"  Are  you  man  or  woman  ?" 

"  That  is  a  question  I  hardly  know  how  to  answer.  Some- 
times I  think  myself  each ;  sometimes  neither." 

"  Did  I  ever  see  you  before  ?" 

"  Often,  and  quite  lately.  I  sailed  with  you  in  your  last 
voyage." 

"  You  !     That  cannot  be.     If  so,  what  is  your  name  ?" 

"  Jack  Tier." 

A  long  pause  succeeded  this  announcement,  which  induced 
Spike  to  muse  as  intently  as  his  condition  would  allow,  though 
the  truth  did  not  yet  flash  on  his  understanding.  At  length 
the  bewildered  man  again  spoke. 

"  Are  you  Jack  Tier  ?"  he  said  slowly,  like  one  who  doubted. 
"  Yes — I  now  see  the  resemblance,  and  it  was  that  which  puz- 
zled me.  Are  they  so  rigid  in  this  hospital  that  you  have  been 
obliged  to  put  on  woman's  clothes  in  order  to  lend  me  a  helping 
hand  ?" 

"  I  am  dressed  as  you  see,  and  for  good  reasons." 

"  But  Jack  Tier  run,  like  that  rascal  Mulford — ay,  I  remem- 
ber now  ;  you  were  in  the  boat  when  I  overhauled  you  all  on 
the  reef." 

"  Very  true ;  I  was  in  the  boat.  But  I  never  run,  Stephen 
Spike.  It  was  you  who  abandoned  me,  on  the  islet  in  the  Gulf, 
and  that  makes  the  second  time  in  your  life  that  you  left  me 
ashore,  when  it  was  your  duty  to  carry  me  to  sea." 

"  The  first  time  I  was  in  a  hurry,  and  could  not  wait  for  you ; 
this  last  time  you  took  sides  with  the  women.  But  for  your 
interference,  I  should  have  got  Ro,se,  and  married  her,  and  all 
would  now  have  been  well  with  me." 


490  JACK     TIER. 

This  was  an  awkward  announcement  for  a  man  to  make  to 
his  legal  wife.  But  after  all  Jack  had  endured,  and  all  Jack 
had  seen,  during  the  late  voyage,  she  was  not  to  he  overcome 
by  this  avowal.  Her  self-command  extended  so  far  as  to  pre- 
vent any  open  manifestation  of  emotion,  however  much  her 
feelings  were  excited. 

"  I  took  sides  with  the  women,  because  I  am  a  woman  my- 
self," she  answered,  speaking  at  length  with  decision,  as  if  de 
termined  to  bring  matters  to  a  head  at  once.  "  It  is  natural 
for  us  all  to  take  sides  with  our  kind." 

"  You  a  woman,  Jack !  That  is  very  remarkable.  Since  when 
have  you  hailed  for  a  woman  ?  You  have  shipped  with  mo 
twice,  and  each  time  as  a  man — though  I've  never  thought 
you  able  to  do  seaman's  duty." 

"  Nevertheless,  I  am  what  you  see ;  a  woman  born  and  edi- 
cated  ;  one  that  never  had  on  man's  dress  until  I  knew  you. 
You  supposed  me  to  be  a  man,  when  I  came  off  to  you  in  the 
skiff  to  the  eastward  of  Riker's  Island,  but  I  wTas  then  what  you 
now  see." 

"  I  begin  to  understand  matters,"  rejoined  the  invalid,  mu- 
singly. "  Ay,  ay,  it  opens  on  me ;  and  I  now  see  how  it  was 
you  made  such  fair  weather  with  Madam  Budd  and  pretty, 
pretty  Rose.  Rose  is  pretty,  Jack ;  you  must  admit  that, 
though  you  be  a  woman." 

"  Rose  is  pretty — I  do  admit  it ;  and  what  is  better,  Rose  is 
good."  It  required  a  heavy  draft  on  Jack's  justice  and  magna- 
nimity, however,  to  make  this  concession. 

"And  you  told  Rose  and  Madam  Budd  about  your  sex;  and 
that  was  the  reason  they  took  to  you  so  on  the  v'y'ge  ?" 

"  I  told  them  who  I  was,  and  why  I  went  abroad  a&  a  man. 
They  know  my  whole  story." 

"  Did  Rose  approve  of  your  sailing  under  false  colors,  Jack  V 

"  You  must  ask  that  of  Rose  herself.  My  story  made  hei 
my  fi  iend ;  but  she  never  said  any  thing  for  or  against  my  dis- 
guise." 


JACK     TIER.  491 

u  It  "was  no  great  disguise,  a'ter  all,  Jack.  Now  you're  fitted 
out  in  your  own  clothes,  you've  a  sort  of  half-rigged  look ;  one 
would  be  as  likely  to  set  you  down  for  a  man  under  jury-canvas, 
as  for  a  woman." 

Jack  made  no  answer  to  this,  but  she  sighed  very  heavily. 
As  for  Spike  himself,  he  was  silent  for  some  little  time,  not 
only  from  exhaustion,  but  because  he  suffered  pain  from  his 
wound.  The  needle  was  diligently  but  awkwardly  plied  in  this 
pause. 

Spike's  ideas  were  still  a  little  confused ;  but  a  silence  and 
rest  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  cleared  them  materially.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  he  again  asked  for  water.  "When  he  had 
drunk,  and  Jack  was  once  more  seated,  with  his  side-face  to- 
wards him,  at  work  with  the  needle,  the  captain  gazed  long  and 
intently  at  this  strange  woman.  It  happened  that  the  profile 
of  Jack  preserved  more  of  the  resemblance  to  her  former  self 
than  the  full  face  ;  and  it  was  this  resemblance  that  now  at- 
tracted Spike's  attention,  though  not  the  smallest  suspicion  of 
the  truth  yet  gleamed  upon  him.  Ue  saw  something  that  was 
familiar,  though  he  could  not  even  tell  what  that  something- 
was,  much  less  to  what  or  whom  it  bore  any  resemblance.  At 
length  he  spoke. 

"  I  was  told  that  Jack  Tier  was  dead,"  he  said,  "  that  he  toot 
the  fever,  and  was  in  his  grave  within  eight-and-forty  hour- 
after  we  sailed.     That  was  what  they  told  me  of  him." 

"  And  what  did  they  tell  you  of  your  own  wife,  Stephen  Spike 
— she  that  you  left  ashore  at  the  time  Jack  was  left  ?" 

"  They  said  she  did  not  die  for  three  years  later.  I  heard  of 
her  death  at  New  Ovleens,  three  years  later." 

im  And  how  could  you  leave  her  ashore — she,  your  true  and 
•awful  wife  ?" 

"  It  was  a  bad  thing,"  answered  Spike,  who,  like  all  other 
mortals,  regarded  his  own  past  career,  now  that  he  stood  on  the 
edge  of  the  grave,  very  differently  from  what  he  had  regarded 
it  in  the  hour  of  his  health  and  strength.     "  Yes,  it  was  a  very 


492  JACK     TIER. 

bad  thing ;  and  I  wish  it  was  ondone.  But  it  is  too  late  aow. 
She  died  of  the  fever,  too — that's  some  comfort ;  had  she  died 
of  a  broken  heart,  I  could  not  have  forgiven  myself.  Molly  was 
not  without  her  faults — great  faults,  I  considered  them  ;  but,  on 
the  whole,  Molly  was  a  good  creatur1." 

"  You  liked  her,  then,  Stephen  Spike  ?" 

"  I  can  truly  say  that  when  I  married  Molly,  and  old  Cap- 
tain Swash  put  his  da'ghter's  hand  into  mine,  that  the  woman 
wasn't  living  who  was  better  in  my  judgment,  or  haudsomer  in 
my  eyes." 

"  Ay,  ay — when  you  married  her ;  but  how  was  it  a'terwards  ? 
— when  you  was  tired  of  her,  and  saw  another  that  was  fairer 
in  your  eyes  ?" 

"  I  desarted  her  ;  and  God  has  punished  me  for  the  sin  !  Do 
you  know,  Jack,  that  luck  has  never  been  with  me  since  that 
day.  Often  and  often  have  I  bethought  me  of  it ;  and  sartain 
as  you  sit  there,  no  great  luck  has  ever  been  with  me,  or  my 
craft,  since  I  went  off,  leaving  my  wife  ashore.  What  was 
made  in  one  vy'ge,  was  lost  in  the  next.  Up  and  down,  up 
and  down  the  whole  time,  for  so  many,  many  long  years,  that 
gray  hairs  set  in,  and  old  age  was  beginning  to  get  close  aboard 
— and  I  as  poor  as  ever.  It  has  been  rub  and  go  with  me  ever 
since ;  and  I  have  had  as  much  as  I  could  do  to  keep  the  brig  in 
motion,  as  the  only  means  that  was  left  to  make  the  two  ends  meet." 

"And  did  not  all  this  make  you  think  of  your  poor  wife — 
she  whom  you  had  so  wronged  ?" 

"I  thought  of  little  else,  until  I  heard  of  her  death  at  New 
Ovleens — and  then  I  gave  it  up  as  useless.  Could  I  have  fallen 
in  with  Molly  at  any  time  a'ter  the  first  six  months  of  my  de- 
sartion,  she  and  I  would  have  come  together  again,  and  every 
thing  would  have  been  forgotten.  I  knowed  her  very  nature, 
which  was  all  forgiveness  to  me  at  the  bottom,  though  seemingly 
so  spiteful  and  hard." 

"  Yet  you  wanted  to  have  this  Rose  Budd,  who  is  only  too 
vouns;,  and  handsome,  and  good  for  you." 


JACK     TIER.  493 

"  ]  was  tired  of  being  a  widower,  Jack ;  and  Rose  is  wonderful 
pretty.  She  has  money,  too,  and  might  make  the  evening  of 
my  days  comfortable.  The  brig  was  old,  as  you  must  know, 
and  has  long  been  off  of  all  the  Insurance  Offices'  books  ;  and 
she  couldn't  hold  together  much  longer.  But  for  this  sloop-of- 
war,  I  should  have  put  her  off  on  the  Mexicans ;  and  they  would 
have  lost  her  to  our  people  in  a  month." 

"  And  was  it  an  honest  thing  to  sell  an  old  and  worn-out  craft 
to  any  one,  Stephen  Spike  ?" 

Spike  had  a  conscience  that  had  become  hard  as  iron  by 
means  of  trade.  Tie  who  traffics  much,  most  especially  if  his 
dealings  be  on  so  small  a  scale  as  to  render  constant  investiga- 
tions of  the  minor  qualities  of  things  necessary,  must  be  a  very 
fortunate  man,  if  he  preserve  his  conscience  in  any  better  con- 
dition. When  Jack  made  this  allusion,  therefore,  the  dying 
man — for  death  was  much  nearer  to  Spike  that  even  he  sup- 
posed, though  he  no  longer  hoped  for  his  own  recovery — when 
Jack  made  this  allusion,  then,  the  dying  man  was  a  good  deal 
at  a  loss  to  comprehend  it.  lie  saw  no  particular  harm  in  mak- 
ing the  best  bargain  he  could  ;  nor  was  it  easy  for  him  to  un- 
derstand why  he  might  not  dispose  of  any  thing  he  possessed 
for  the  highest  price  that  was  to  be  had.  Still  he  answered  in 
an  apologetic  sort  of  way. 

"The  brig  was  old,  I  acknowledge,"  he  said,  "but  she  was 
strong,  and  might  have  run  a  long  time.  I  only  spoke  of  her 
capture  as  a  thing  likely  to  take  place  soon,  if  the  Mexicans 
got  her ;  so  that  her  qualities  were  of  no  great  account,  un- 
less it  might  be  her  speed — and  that  you  know  was  excellent, 
Jack." 

"And  you  regret  that  brig,  Stephen  Spike,  lying  as  you  do 
on  your  death-bed,  more  than  any  thing  else." 

"  Not  as  much  as  I  do  pretty  Rose  Budd,  Jack ;  Rosy  is  so 
delightful  to  look  at !" 

The  muscles  of  Jack's  face  twisted  a  little,  and  she  looked 
dceplv  mortified  ;  for,  to  own  the  truth,  she  hoped  that  the 


494  JACK     TIER. 

conversation  had  so  far  turned  her  delinquent  husband's 
thoughts  to  the  past,  as  to  have  revived  in  him  some  of  his 
former  interest  in  herself.  It  is  true,  he  still  believed  her 
dead  ;  but  this  was  a  circumstance  Jack  overlooked — so  hard  is 
it  to  hear  the  praises  of  a  rival,  and  be  just.  She  felt  the  ne- 
cessity of  being  more  explicit,  and  determined  at  once  to  come 
to  the  point. 

"  Stephen  Spike,"  she  said,  steadily,  drawing  near  to  the  bed- 
side, "  you  should  be  told  the  truth,  when  you  are  heard  thus 
extolling  the  good  looks  of  Rose  Budd,  with  less  than  eight- 
and-twenty  hours  of  life  remaining.  Mary  Swash  did  not  die, 
as  you  have  supposed,  three  years  a'ter  you  desarted  her,  but  is 
living  at  this  moment.  Ilad  you  read  the  letter  I  gave  you  in 
the  boat,  just  before  you  made  me  jump  into  the  sea,  that  would 
have  told  you  where  she  is  to  be  found." 

Spike  stared  at  the  speaker  intently ;  and  when  her  cracked 
voice  ceased,  his  look  was  that  of  a  man  who  was  terrified  as 
well  as  bewildered.  This  did  not  arise  still  from  any  gleamings 
of  the  real  state  of  the  case,  but  from  the  soreness  with  which 
his  conscience  pricked  him,  when  he  heard  that  his  much- 
wronged  wife  was  alive.  He  fancied,  with  a  vivid  and  rapid 
glance  at  the  probabilities,  all  that  a  woman  abandoned  would 
be  likely  to  endure  in  the  course  of  so  many  long  and  suffer- 
ing years. 

"  Are  you  sure  of  what  you  say,  Jack  ?  You  wouldn't  take 
advantage  of  my  situation  to  tell  me  an  untruth  ?" 

"  As  certain  of  it  as  of  my  own  existence.  I  have  seen  her 
quite  lately — talked  with  her  of  you — in  short,  she  is  now  at 
Key  West,  knows  your  state,  and  has  a  wife's  feelin's  to  come 
to  your  bedside." 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  and  the  many  gleamings  he  had 
had  of  the  facts  during  their  late  intercourse  on  board  the  brig, 
Spike  did  not  guess  at  the  truth.  lie  appeared  astounded,  and 
his  terror  seemed  to  increase. 

"  I  have  another  thing  to  tell  you,"  continued  Jack,  pausing 


J   1CK     l'IKR.  4'J  J 

but  a  moment  to  collect  her  own  thoughts.  "  Jack  Tier — the 
real  Jack  Tier — he  who  sailed  with  you  of  old,  and  whom  you 
left  ashore  at  the  same  time  you  desarted  your  wife,  did  die  of 
the  fever,  as  you  was  told,  in  eight-and-forty  hours  a'ter  the 
brig  went  to  sea." 

"  Then  who,  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  are  you  ?  How  came 
you  to  hail  by  another's  name  as  well  as  by  another  sex  ?" 

"  What  could  a  woman  do,  whose  husband  had  desarted  her 
in  a  strange  land  ?" 

"  That  is  remarkable  !  So  you've  been  married  ?  I  should 
not  have  thought  that  possible ;  and  your  husband  desarted 
you,  too.     Well,  such  things  do  happen." 

Jack  now  felt  a  severe  pang.  She  could  not  but  see  that  her 
ungainly — we  had  almost  said  her  unearthly  appearance — pre- 
vented the  captain  from  even  yet  suspecting  the  truth  ;  and  the 
meaning  of  his  language  was  not  easily  to  be  mistaken.  That 
any  one  should  have  married  her,  seemed  to  her  husband  as 
improbable  as  it  was  probable  he  would  run  away  from  her  as 
soon  as  it  was  in  his  power  after  the  ceremony. 

"  Stephen  Spike,"  resumed  Jack,  solemnly,  "  /  am  Mary 
Swash — /  am  your  wife  !" 

Spike  started  in  his  bed  ;  then  he  buried  his  face  in  the  cover- 
let— and  he  actually  groaned.  In  bitterness  of  spirit  the  wo- 
man turned  away  and  wept.  Her  feelings  had  been  blunted  by 
misfortune  and  the  collisions  of  a  selfish  world ;  but  enough  01 
former  self  remained  to  make  this  the  hardest  of  all  the  blows 
she  had  ever  received.  Her  husband,  dying  as  he  was,  as  he 
must  and  did  know  himself  to  be,  shrunk  from  one  of  her  ap- 
pearance, unsexed  as  she  had  become  by  habits,  and  changed 
by  years  and  suffering. 


43Q  jack   t  i  3  a. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

"  The  trusting  heart's  repose,  the  paradise 
Of  home,  with  all  its  loves,  doth  fate  allow 
The  crown  of  glory  unto  woman's  brow." 

Mrs.  IIemans. 

It  has  again  become  necessary  to  advance  the  time;  and  wo 
shall  take  the  occasion  thus  offered  to  make  a  few  explanations 
touching  certain  events  which  have  been  passed  over  without 
notice. 

The  reason  why  Captain  Mull  did  not  chase  the  yawl  of  the 
brig  in  the  Pougkeepsie  herself,  was  the  necessity  of  waiting  for 
his  own  boats  that  were  endeavoring  to  regain  the  sloop-of- 
war.  It  would  not  have  done  to  abandon  them,  inasmuch  as 
the  men  were  so  much  exhausted  by  the  pull  to  windward,  that 
when  they  reached  the  vessel  all  were  relieved  from  duty  for 
the  rest  of  the  day.  As  soon,  however,  as  the  other  boats  were 
hoisted  in,  or  run  up,  the  ship  filled  away,  stood  out  of  the  pas- 
sage and  ran  down  to  join  the  cutter  of  Wallace,  which  was 
endeavoring  to  keep  its  position,  as  much  as  possible,  by  mak- 
ing short  tacks  under  close-reefed  luggs. 

Spike  had  been  received  on  board  the  sloop-of-war,  sent  into 
her  sick  bay,  and  put  under  the  care  of  the  surgeon  and  his 
assistants.  From  the  first,  these  gentlemen  pronounced  the 
hurt  mortal.  The  wounded  man  was  insensible  most  of  the 
time,  until  the  ship  had  beat  up  and  gone  into  Key  West, 
where  he  was  transferred  to  the  regular  hospital,  as  has  already 
been  mentioned. 

The  wreckers  Avent  out  the  moment  the  news  of  the  calamity 


JACK     T  IBS.  497 

of  the  Swash  reached  their  ears.  Some  went  in  quest -of  the 
doubloons  of  the  schooner,  and  others  to  pick  up  any  thing 
valuable  that  might  be  discovered  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
stranded  brig.  It  may  be  mentioned  here,  that  not  much  was 
ever  obtained  from  the  brigantine,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
spars,  the  sails,  and  a  little  rigging;  but,  in  the  end,  the 
schooner  was  raised,  by  means  of  the  chain  Spike  had  placed 
around  her,  the  cabin  was  ransacked,  and  the  doubloons  were 
recovered.  As  there  was  no  one  to  claim  the  money,  it  was 
quietly  divided  among  the  conscientious  citizens  present  at  its 
revisiting  "the  glimpses  of  the  moon,"  making  gold  plenty. 

The  doubloons  in  the  yawl  would  have  been  lost  but  for  the 
sagacity  of  Mulford.  He  too  well  knew  the  character  of  Spike 
to  believe  he  would  quit  the  brig  without  taking  the  doubloons 
with  him.  Acquainted  with  the  boat,  he  examined  the  little 
locker  in  the  stern-sheets,  and  found  the  two  bags,  one  of  which 
was  probably  the  lawful  property  of  Captain  Spike,  while  the 
other,  in  truth,  belonged  to  the  Mexican  government.  The  last 
contained  the  most  gold,  but  the  first  amounted  to  a  sum  that 
our  young  mate  knew  to  be  very  considerable.  Rose  had  made 
him  acquainted  with  the  sex  of  Jack  Tier  since  their  own  mar- 
riage ;  and  he  at  once  saw  that  the  claims  of  this  uncouth  wife, 
wdio  was  so  soon  to  be  a  widow,  to  the  gold  in  question,  might 
prove  to  be  as  good  in  law,  as  they  unquestionably  were  in 
morals.  On  representing  the  facts  of  the  case  to  Captain  Mull 
and  the  legal  functionaries  at  Key  West,  it  was  determined  to 
relinquish  this  money  to  the  heirs  of  Spike,  as,  indeed,  they 
must  have  done  under  process,  there  being  no  other  claimant. 
These  doubloons,  however,  did  not  amount  to  the  full  price  of 
the  flour  and  powder  that  composed  the  cargo  of  the  Swash. 
The  cargo  had  been  purchased  with  Mexican  funds ;  and  all 
that  Spike  "or  his  heirs  could  claim,  wras  the  high  freight  for 
which  he  had  undertaken  the  delicate  office  of  transporting 
those  forbidden  articles,  contraband  of  war,  to  the  Dry  Tor- 
tuiras. 


498  JACK     T1EU, 

Mulford  by  this  time  was  high  in  the  confidence  and  esteem 
of  all  on  board  the  Poughkeepsie.  He  had  frankly  explained 
his  whole  connection  with  Spike,  not  even  attempting  to  con- 
ceal the  reluctance  he  had  felt  to  betray  the  brig  after  he  had 
fully  ascertained  the  fact  of  his  commander's  treason.  The 
manly  gentlemen  with  whom  he  was  now  brougbt  in  contact 
entered  into  his  feelings,  and  admitted  that  it  was  an  office  no 
one  could  desire,  to  turn  against  the  craft  in  which  he  sailed. 
It  is  true,  they  could  not  and  would. not  be  traitors,  but  Mul- 
ford  had  stopped  far  short  of  this  ;  and  the  distinction  between 
such  a  character  and  that  of  an  informer  was  wide  enough  to 
satisfy  all  their  scruples. 

Then  Rose  had  the  greatest  success  with  the  gentlemen  of 
the  Poughkeepsie.  Her  youth,  beauty,  and  modesty,  told 
largely  in  her  favor;  and  the  simple,  womanly  affection  she 
unconsciously  betrayed  in  behalf  of  Harry,  touched  the  heart 
of  every  observer.  When  the  intelligence  of  her  aunt's  fate 
reached  her,  the  sorrow  she  manifested  was  so  profound  and 
natural,  that  every  one  sympathized  with  her  grief.  Nor 
would  she  be  satisfied  unless  Mulford  would  consent  to  go  in 
search  of  the  bodies.  The  latter  knew  the  hopelessness  of  such 
an  excursion,  but  he  could  not  refuse  to  comply.  He  was  ab- 
sent on  that  melancholy  duty,  therefore,  at  the  moment  of  the 
scene  related  in  our  last  chapter,  and  did  not  return  until  after 
that  which  we  are  now  about  to  lay  before  the  reader.  Mrs. 
Budd,  Biddy,  and  all  of  those  who  perished  after  the  yawl  got 
clear  of  the  reef,  were  drowned  in  deep  water,  and  no  more 
was  ever  seen  of  any  of  them ;  or,  if  wreckers  did  pass  them, 
they  did  not  stop  to  bury  the  dead.  It  was  differeut,  however, 
with  those,  who  were  first  sacrificed  to  Spike's  selfishness.  They 
were  drowned  on  the  reef,  and  Harry  did  actually  recover  the 
bodies  of  the  Senor  Montefalderon,  and  of  Josh,  the  steward. 
They  had  washed  upon  a  rock  that  is  bare  at  low  water.  He 
took  them  both  to  the  Dry  Toitugas,  and  had  them  interred 
along  with  the  other  dead  at  that  place.     Don  Juan  was  placed 


JACK    TIER.  499 

side  by  side  with,  his  unfortunate  countryman,  the  master  of  his 
equally .  unfortunate  schooner. 

While  Harry  was  absent  and  thus  employed,  Rose  wept 
much  and  prayed  more.  She  would  have  felt  herself  almost 
alone  in  the  world,  but  for  the  youth  to  whom  she  had  so  re- 
cently, less  than  a  week  before,  plighted  her  faith  in  wedlock. 
That  new  tie,  it  is  true,  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  counter- 
act many  of  the  ordinary  feelings  of  her  situation ;  and  she  now 
turned  to  it  as  the  one  which  absorbed  most  of  the  future  duties 
of  her  life.  Still  she  missed  the  kindness,  the  solicitude,  even 
the  weaknesses  of  her  aunt ;  and  the  terrible  manner  in  which 
Mrs.  Budd  had  perished,  made  her  shudder  with  horror  when- 
ever she  thought  of  it.  Poor  Biddy,  too,  came  in  for  her  share 
of  the  regrets.  This  faithful  creature  who  had  been  in  the 
relict's  service  ever  since  Rose's  infancy,  had  become  endeared 
to  her,  in  spite  of  her  uncouth  manners  and  confused  ideas,  by 
the  warmth  of  her  heart,  and  the  singular  truth  of  her  feelings. 
Biddy,  of  all  her  family,  had  come  to  America,  leaving  behind 
her  not  only  brothers  and  sisters,  but  parents  living.  Each  year 
did  she  remit  to  the  last  a  moiety  of  her  earnings,  and  many  a 
half-dollar  that  had  come  from  Rose's  pretty  little  hand,  had 
been  converted  into  gold,  and  forwarded  on  the  same  pious 
errand  to  the  green  island  of  her  nativity.  Ireland,  unhappy 
country !  at  this  moment  what  are  not  the  dire  necessities  of 
thy  poor !  Here,  from  the  midst  of  abundance,  in  a  land  that 
God  has  blessed  in  its  productions  far  beyond  the  limits  of 
human  wants,  a  land  in  which  famine  was  never  known,  do  we 
at  this  moment  hear  thy  groans,  and  listen  to  tales  of  suffering 
that  to  us  seem  almost  incredible.  In  the  midst  of  these  chill- 
ing narratives,  our  ey#s  fall  on  an  appeal  to  the  English  nation, 
that  appears  in  what  it  is  the  fashion  of  some  to  term  the  first 
journal  of  Europe  (!)  in  behalf  of  thy  suffering  people.  A 
worthy  appeal  to  the  charity  of  England  seldom  fails ;  but  it 
seems  to  us  that  one  sentiment  of  this  might  have  been  altered, 
if  not  spared.     The  English  are  asked  to  be  "forgetful  of  the 


500  JACK      TIER. 

past,"  and  to  come  forward  to  the  relief  of  their  suffering  fellow 
subjects.  We  should  have  written  "mindful  of  the  past,"  in 
its  stead.  We  say  this  in  charity,  as  well  as  in  truth.  We 
come  of  English  blood,  and  if  we  claim  to  share  in  all  the 
ancient  renown  of  that  warlike  and  enlightened  people,  we  are 
equally  bound  to  share  in  the  reproaches  that  original  mis- 
government  has  inflicted  on  thee.  In  this  latter  sense,  then, 
thou  hast  a  right  to  our  sympathies,  and  they  are  not  withheld. 

As  has  been  already  said,  we  now  advance  the  time  eight- 
and-forty  hours,  and  again  transfer  the  scene  to  that  room  in 
the  hospital  which  was  occupied  by  Spike.  The  approaches  of 
death,  during  the  interval  just  named,  had  been  slow  but  cer- 
tain. The  surgeons  had  announced  that  the  wounded  man 
could  not  possibly  survive  the  coming  night;  and  he  himself 
had  been  made  sensible  that  his  end  was  near.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  add  that  Stephen  Spike,  conscious  of  his  vigor 
and  strength,  in  command  of  his  brig,  and  bent  on  the  pursuits 
of  worldly  gains,  or  of  personal  gratification,  was  a  very  differ- 
ent person  from  him  who  now  lay  stretched  on  his  pallet  in  the 
hospital  of  Key  West,  a  dying  man.  By  the  side  of  his  bed 
still  sat  his  strange  nurse,  less  peculiar  in  appearance,  however, 
than  when  last  seen  by  the  reader. 

Rose  Budd  had  been  ministering  to  the  ungainly  externals  of 
Jack  Tier.  She  now  wore  a  cap,  thus  concealing  the  short, 
gray  bristles  of  hair,  and  lending  to  her  countenance  a  little  of 
that  softness  which  is  a  requisite  of  female  character.  Some 
attention  had  also  been  paid  to  the  rest  of  her  attire ;  and  Jack 
was,  altogether,  less  repulsive  in  her  exterior  than  when,  un- 
aided, she  had  attempted  to  resume  the  proper  garb  of  her  sex. 
Use  and  association,  too,  had  contributed^  a  little  to  revive  her 
woman's  nature,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  and  she  had  begun,  in 
particular,  to  feel  the  sort  of  interest  in  her  patient  which  we 
all  come  in  time  to  entertain  towards  any  objects  of  our  espe- 
cial care.  We  do  not  mean  that  Jack  had  absolutely  ever 
ceased  to  love  her  husband  ;  strange  as  it  may  seem,  such  had 


JACK     TIER.  501 

uot  literally  been  the  case ;  on  the  contrary,  her  interest  in  him 
and  in  bis  welfare  had  never  ceased,  even  while  she  saw  his 
vices  and  detested  his  crimes ;  but  all  we  wish  to  say  here  is, 
that  she  was  getting,  in  addition  to  the  long-enduring  feelings 
of  a  wife,  some  of  the  interest  of  a  nurse. 

During  the  whole  time  which  had  elapsed  between  Jack's 
revealing  her  true  character,  and  the  moment  of  which  we  are 
now  writing,  Spike  had  not  once  spoken  to  his  wife.  Often 
had  she  caught  his  eyes  intently  riveted  on  her,  when  he  would 
turn  them  away,  as  she  feared,  in  distaste ;  and  once  or  twice 
he  groaned  deeply,  more  like  a  man  who  suffered  mental  than 
bodily  pain.  Still  the  patient  did  not  speak  once  in  all  the 
time  mentioned.  We  should  be  representing  poor  Jack  as  pos- 
sessing more  philosophy,  or  less  feeling,  than  the  truth  would 
warrant,  were  we  to  say  that  she  was  not  hurt  at  this  conduct 
in  her  husband.  On  the  contrary,  she  felt  it  deeply  ;  andT  more 
than  once  it  had  so  far  subdued  her  pride,  as  to  cause  her  bit- 
terly to  weep.  This  shedding  of  tears,  however,  was  of  service 
to  Jack  in  one  sense,  for  it  had  the  effect  of  renewing  old  im- 
pressions, and  in  a  certain  way,  of  reviving  the  nature  of  her 
sex  within  her — a  nature  which  had  been  sadly  weakened  by 
her  past  life. 

But  the  hour  had  at  length  come  when  this  long  and  pain- 
ful silence  was  to  be  broken.  Jack  and  Rose  were  alone  with 
the  patient,  when  the  last  again  spoke  to  his  wife. 

"  Molly — poor  Molly !"  said  the  dying  man,  his  voice  con- 
tinuing full  and  deep  to  the  last,  "  what  a  sad  time  you  must 
have  had  of  it  after  I  did  you  that  wrong !" 

"  It  is  hard  upon  a  woman,  Stephen,  to  turn  her  out,  help- 
less, on  a  cold  and  selfish  world,"  answered  Jack,  simply,  much 
too  honest  to  affect  a  reserve  she  did  not  feel. 

"  It  was  hard,  indeed ;  may  God  forgive  me  for  it,  as  I  hope 
ye  do,  Molly." 

No  answer  was  made  to  this  appeal ;  and  the  invalid  looked 
anxiously  at  his  wife.     The  last  sat  at  her  work,  which  had  now 


502  JACK     TIER. 

got  to  be  less  awkward  to  her,  with  her  eyes  bent  on  her  needle, 
— lier  countenance  rigid,  and,  so  far  as  tbe  eye  could  discern, 
her  feelings  unmoved. 

"  Your  husband  speaks  to  you,  Jack  Tier."  said  Rose,  point- 
edly. 

"  May  yours  never  have  occasion  to  speak  to  you,  Rose  Budd, 
in  the  same  way,"  was  the  solemn  answer.  "  I  do  not  flatter 
myself  that  I  ever  was  as  comely  as  you,  or  that  yonder  poor 
dying  wretch  was  a  Harry  Mulford  in  his  youth ;  but  we  were 
young  and  happy,  and  respected  once,  and  loved  each  other, 
yet  you  see  what  it's  all  come  to !" 

Rose  was  silenced,  though  she  had  too  much  tenderness  in 
behalf  of  her  own  youthful  and  manly  bridegroom  to  dread  a 
fate  similar  to  that  which  had  overtaken  poor  Jack.  Spike 
now  seemed  disposed  to  say  something,  and  she  went  to  the 
side  of  his  bed,  folio  wed  by  her  companion,  who  kept  a  little  in 
the  background,  as  if  unwilling  to  let  the  emotion  she  really 
felt  be  seen,  and,  perhaps,  conscious  that  her  ungainly  appear- 
ance did  not  aid  her  in  recovering  the  lost  affections  of  her 
husband. 

"  1  have  been  a  very  wicked  man,  I  fear,"  said  Spike,  earnestly. 

"There  are  none  without  sin,"  answered  Rose.  "Place  your 
reliance  on  tbe  mediation  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  sins  even  far 
deeper  than  yours  may  be  pardoned." 

The  captain  stared  at  the  beautiful  speaker,  but  self-indul- 
gence, the  incessant  pursuit  of  worldly  and  selfish  objects  for 
forty  years,  and  the  habits  of  a  life  into  which  the  thought  of 
God  and  the  dread  hereafter  never  entered,  had  encased  his 
spiritual  being  in  a  sort  of  brazen  armor,  through  which  no 
ordinary  blow  of  conscience  could  penetrate.  Still  he  had  fear- 
ful glimpses  of  recent  events,  and  his  soul,  hanging  as  it  was 
over  the  abyss  of  eternity,  was  troubled. 

"  What  has  become  of  your  aunt  ?"  half  whispered  Spike — 
•  my  old  captain's  widow.  She  ought  to  be  here ;  and  Don 
Wan  Montezuma — where  is  he?" 


JACK     TIER.  503 

Rose  turned  aside  to  conceal  her  tears — but  no  one  answered 
the  questions  of  the  dying  man.  Then  a  gleaming  of  childhood 
shot  into  the  recollection  of  Spike,  and,  clasping  his  hands,  he 
tried  to  pray.  But,  like  others  who  have  lived  without  any 
communication  with  their  Creator  through  long  lives  of  apathy 
to  his  existence  and  laws,  thinking  only  of  the  present  time, 
and  daily,  hourly  sacrificing  principles  and  duty  to  the  narrow 
interests  of  the  moment,  he  now  found  how  hard  it  is  to  renew 
communications  with  a  Being  who  has  been  so  long  neglected. 
The  fault  lay  in  himself,  however,  for  a  gracious  ear  was  open, 
even  over  the  death-bed  of  Stephen  Spike,  could  that  rude  spirit 
only  bring  itself  to  ask  for  mercy  in  earnestness  and  truth.  As 
his  companions  saw  his  struggles,  they  left  him  for  a  few  min- 
utes to  his  own  thoughts. 

"  Molly,"  Spike  at  length  uttered,  in  a  faint  tone,  the  voice  of 
one  conscious  of  being  very  near  his  end,  "  I  hope  you  will  for- 
give me,  Molly.  I  know  you  must  have  a  hard,  hard  time 
of  it." 

"  It  is  hard  for  a  woman  to  unsex  herself,  Stephen ;  to  throw 
off  her  very  natur',  as  it  might  be,  and  to  turn  man." 

"  It  has  changed  you  sadly — even  your  speech  is  altered. 
Once  your  voice  was  soft  and  womanish — more  like  that  of 
Rose  Budd's  than  it  is  now." 

"  I  speak  as  them  speak  among  whom  I've  been  forced  to 
live.  The  forecastle  and  steward's  pantry,  Stephen  Spike,  are 
poor  schools  to  send  women  to  l'arn  language  in." 

"  Try  and  forget  it  all,  poor  Molly !  Say  to  me,  so  that  I 
can  hear  you,  '  I  forget  and  forgive,  Stephen.'  I  am  afraid  God 
will  not  pardon  my  sins,  which  begin  to  seem  dreadful  to  me, 
if  my  own  wife  refuse  to  forget  and  forgive,  on  ray  dying  bed." 

Jack  was  much  mollified  by  this  appeal.  Her  interest  in  her 
offending  husband  had  never  been  entirely  extinguished.  She 
had  remembered  him,  and  often  with  woman's  kindness,  in  all 
her  wanderings  and  sufferings,  as  the  preceding  parts  of  our 
Qarrative  must  show  ;  and  though  resentment  had  been  mingled 


504  JACK     TIER. 

with  the  grief  and  mortification  she  felt  at  finding  how  much 
he  still  submitted  to  Rose's  superior  charms,  in  a  breast  as  really 
generous  and  humane  as  that  of  Jack  Tier's,  such  a  feeling  waa 
not  likely  to  endure  in  the  midst  of  a  scene  like  that  she  was 
now  called  to  witness.  The  muscles  of  her  countenance  twitched, 
the  hard-looking,  tanned  face  began  to  lose  its  sternness,  and 
every  way  she  appeared  like  one  profoundly  disturbed. 

"Turn  to  Him  whose  goodness  and  marcy  may  sarve  you, 
Stephen,"  she  said,  in  a  milder  and  more  feminine  tone  than 
she  had  used  now  for  years,  making  her  more  like  herself  than 
either  her  husband  or  Rose  had  seen  her  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  late  voyage ;  "  my  sayin'  that  I  forget  and  forgive 
cannot  help  a  man  on  his  death-bed." 

"  It  will  settle  my  mind,  Molly,  and  leave  me  freer  to  turu 
my  thoughts  to  God." 

Jack  was  much  affected,  more  by  the  countenance  and  man- 
ner of  the  sufferer,  perhaps,  than  by  his  words.  She  drew 
nearer  to  the  side  of  her  husband's  pallet,  knelt,  took  his  hands, 
and  said  solemnly — 

"  Stephen  Spike,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  I  do  forgive 
you ;  and  I  shall  pray  to  God  that  he  will  pardon  your  sins  as 
freely  and  more  marcifully  than  I  now  pardon  all,  and  try  to 
forget  all  that  you  have  done  to  me." 

Spike  clasped  his  hands,  and  again  he  tried  to  pray ;  but  the 
habits  of  a  whole  life  are  not  to  be  thrown  off  at  will ;  and  he 
who  endeavors  to  regain,  in  his  extremity,  the  moments  that 
have  been  lost,  will  find,  in  bitter  reality,  that  he  has  been 
heaping  mountains  on  his  own  soul,  by  the  mere  practice  of 
sin,  which  were  never  laid  there  by  the  original  fall  of  his  race. 
Jack,  however,  had  disburdened  her  spirit  of  a  load  that 
had  long  oppressed  it,  and,  burying  her  face  in  the  rug,  she 
wept. 

"  I  wish,  Molly,"  said  the  dying  man,  several  minutes  later — 
"  I  wish  I  had  never  seen  the  brig.  Until  I  got  that  craft,  no 
thought  of  wronging  human  being  ever  crossed  my  mind." 


JACK     TIER.  505 

"  It  was  the  Father  of  Lies  that  tempts  all  to  do  evil,  Stephea, 
and  not  the  brig,  which  caused  the  sins." 

"  I  wish  I  could  live  a  year  longer — only  one  year ;  that  is 
not  much  to  ask  for  a  man  who  is  not  yet  sixty." 

"  It  is  hopeless,  poor  Stephen.  The  surgeons  say  you  cannot 
live  one  day." 

Spike  groaned — for  the  past,  blended  fearfully  with  the  future, 
gleamed  on  his  conscience  with  a  brightness  that  appalled  him. 
And  what  is  that  future,  which  is  to  make  us  happy  or  miser- 
able through  an  endless  vista  of  time  ?  Is  it  not  composed  of 
an  existence,  in  which  conscience,  released  from  the  delusions 
and  weaknesses  of  the  body,  sees  all  in  its  true  colors,  appreciates 
all,  and  punishes  all  ?  Such  an  existence  would  make  every 
man  the  keeper  of  the  record  of  his  own  transgressions,  even  to 
the  most  minute  exactness.  It  would  of  itself  mete  out  perfect 
justice,  since  the  sin  would  be  seen  amid  its  accompanying 
facts,  every  aggravating  or  extenuating  circumstance.  Each 
man  would  be  strictly  punished  according  to  his  talents.  As 
no  one  is  without  sin,  it  makes  the  necessity  of  an  atonement 
indispensable,  and,  in  its  most  rigid  interpretation,  it  exhibits 
the  truth  of  the  scheme  of  salvation  in  the  clearest  colors.  The 
soul,  or  conscience,  that  can  admit  the  necessary  degree  of  faith 
in  that  atonement,  and  in  admitting,  feels  its  efficacy,  throws  the 
burden  of  its  own  transgressions  away,  and  remains  forever  in 
the  condition  of  its  original  existence,  pure,  and  consequently 
happy. 

We  do  not  presume  to  lay  down  a  creed  on  this  mighty  and 
mysterious  matter,  in  which  all  have  so  deep  an  interest,  and 
concerning  which  so  very  small  a  portion  of  the  human  race 
think  much,  or  think  with  any  clearness  when  it  does  become 
the  subject  of  their  passing  thoughts  at  all.  We  too  well  know 
cur  own  ignorance  to  venture  on  dogmas  which  it  has  prob- 
ably been  intended  that  the  mind  of  man  should  not  yet  grapple 
with  and  comprehend.     To  return  to  our  subject. 

Stephen  Spike  was  now  made  to  feel  the  incubus-load,  which 
22 


506  JACK     TIER. 

perseverance  in  sin  heaps  on  the  breast  of  the  reckless  offender. 
What  was  the  most  grievous  of  all,  his  power  to  shake  off  this 
dead  weight  was  diminished  in  precisely  the  same  proportion  as 
the  burden  was  increased,  the  moral  force  of  every  man  lessen- 
ing in  a  very  just  ratio  to  the  magnitude  of  his  delinquencies. 
Bitterly  did  this  deep  offender  struggle  with  his  conscience,  and 
little  did  his  half-unsexed  wife  know  how  to  console  or  aid  him. 
Jack  had  been  superficially  instructed  in  the  dogmas  of  her 
faith,  in  childhood  and  youth,  as  most  persons  are  instructed  in 
what  are  termed  Christian  communities — had  been  made  to 
learn  the  Catechism,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Creed — and 
had  been  left  to  set  up  for  herself  on  this  small  capital,  in  the 
great  concern  of  human  existence,  on  her  marriage  and  en- 
trance on  the  active  business  of  life.  When  the  manner  in  which 
she  had  passed  the  last  twenty  years  is  remembered,  no  one  can 
be  surprised  to  learn  that  Jack  was  of  little  assistance  to  her 
husband  in  his  extremity.  Rose  made  an  effort  to  administer 
hope  and  consolation,  but  the  terrible  nature  of  the  struggle  she 
witnessed,  induced  her  to  send  for  the  chaplain  of  the  Pough- 
keepsie.  This  divine  prayed  with  the  dying  man  ;  but  even  he, 
in  the  last  moments  of  the  sufferer,  was  little  more  than  a  pas- 
sive but  shocked  witness  of  remorse,  suspended  over  the  abyss 
of  eternity  in  hopeless  dread.  We  shall  not  enter  into  the  de- 
tails of  the  revolting  scene,  but  simply  add  that  curses,  blasphe- 
my, tremulous  cries  for  mercy,  agonized  entreaties  to  be  ad- 
vised, and  sullen  defiance,  were  all  strangely  and  fearfully 
blended.  In  the  midst  of  one  of  these  revolting  paroxysms, 
Spike  breathed  his  last.  A  few  hours  later,  his  body  was  in- 
terred in  the  sands  of  the  shore.  It  may  be  well  to  say  in  this 
place,  that  the  hurricane  of  1846,  which  is  known  to  have  oc- 
curred only  a  few  months  later,  swept  off  the  frail  covering,  and 
lhat  the  body  was  washed  away  to  leave  its  bones  among  the 
wrecks  and  relics  of  the  Florida  Reef. 

Mulford  did  not  return  from  his  fruitless  expedition  in  quest 
of  the  remains  of  Mrs.  Budd,  until  after  the  death  and  interment 


JACK     TIER.  507 

of  Spike.  As  nothing  remained  to  be  done  at  Key  West,  he 
and  Rose,  accompanied  by  Jack  Tier,  took  passage  for  Charles- 
ton in  the  first  convenient  vessel  that  offered.  Two  days  before 
they  sailed,  the  Poughkeepsie  went  out  to  cruise  in  the  Gulf, 
agreeably  to  her  general  orders.  The  evening  previously  Cap- 
tain Mull,  Wallace,  and  the  chaplain,  passed  with  the  bride- 
groom and  bride,  when  the  matter  of  the  doubloons  found  in 
the  boat  wras  discussed.  It  was  agreed  that  Jack  Tier  should 
have  them  ;  and  into  her  hands  the  bag  was  now  placed.  On 
this  occasion,  to  oblige  the  officers,  Jack  went  into  a  narrative 
of  all  she  had  seen  and  suffered,  from  the  moment  when  aban- 
doned by  her  late  husband  down  to  that  when  she  found  him 
again.  It  was  a  strange  account,  and  one  filled  with  surprising 
adventures.  In  most  of  the  vessels  in  -which  she  had  served, 
Jack  had  acted  in  the  steward's  department,  though  she  had 
frequently  done  duty  as  a  foremast  hand.  In  strength  and 
skill  she  admitted  that  she  had  often  failed ;  but  in  courage, 
never.  Having  been  given  reason  to  think  her  husband  was 
reduced  to  serving  in  a  vessel  of  war,  she  had  shipped  on  board 
a  frigate  bound  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  had  actually  made  a 
whole  cruise  as  a  ward-room  boy  on  that  station.  While  thus 
employed,  she  had  met  with  two  of  the  gentlemen  present; 
Captain  Mull  and  Mr.  Wallace.  The  former  was  then  first- 
lieutenant  of  the  frigate,  and  the  latter  a  past-midshipman ;  and 
in  these  capacities  both  had  been  well  known  to  her.  As  the 
name  she  then  bore  was  the  same  as  that  under  which  she  now 
"  hailed,"  these  officers  were  soon  made  to  recollect  her,  though 
Jack  was  no  longer  the  light,  trim-built  lad  he  had  then  ap- 
peared to  be.  Neither  of  the  gentlemen  named  had  made  the 
whole  cruise  in  the  ship,  but  each  had  been  promoted  and 
transferred  to  another  craft,  after  being  Jack's  shipmate  rather 
more  than  a  year.  This  information  greatly  facilitated  the 
■iffair  of  the  doubloons. 

From    Charleston   the   travellers   came   north   by   railroad. 
Harry  made  several  stops  by  the  way,  in  order  to  divert  the 


f>08  JACK     TIER. 

thoughts  of  his  beautiful  young  bride  from  dwelling  too  much 
on  the  fate  of  her  aunt.  He  knew  that  home  would  revive  all 
these  recollections  painfully,  and  wished  to  put  off  the  hour  ot 
their  return,  until  time  had  a  little  weakened  Rose's  regrets. 
For  this  reason  he  passed  a  whole  week  in  Washington,  though 
it  was  a  season  of  the  year  that  the  place  is  not  in  much  re- 
quest. Still,  "Washington  is  scarce  a  town,  at  any  season.  It 
is  much  the  fashion  to  deride  the  American  capital,  and  to  treat 
it  as  a  place  of  very  humble  performance  with  very  sounding 
pretensions.  Certainly,  Washington  has  very  few  of  the  pecu- 
liarities of  a  great  European  capital ;  but  few  as  these  are,  they 
are  more  than  belong  to  any  other  place  in  this  country.  We 
now  allude  to  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  a  capital,  and  not 
to  a  mere  concentration  of  houses  and  shops  within  a  given  space. 
In  this  last  respect,  Washington  is  much  behind  fifty  other 
American  towns,  even  while  it  is  the  only  place  in  the  whole 
Republic  which  possesses  specimens  of  architecture,  on  a  scale 
approaching  that  of  the  higher  classes  of  the  edifices  of  the  old 
world.  It  is  totally  deficient  in  churches,  and  theatres,  and 
markets ;  or  those  it  does  possess  are,  in  an  architectural  sense, 
not  at  all  above  the  level  of  village  or  country-town  pretensions, 
but  one  or  two  of  its  national  edifices  do  approach  the  mag- 
nificence and  grandeur  of  the  old  world.  The  new  Treasury 
Buildings  are  unquestionably,  on  the  score  of  size,  embellish- 
ments, and  finish,  the  American  edifice  that  comes  nearest  to 
first-class  architecture  on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The 
Capitol  comes  next,  though  it  can  scarce  be  ranked,  relatively, 
as  high.  As  for  the  White  House,  it  is  every  way  sufficient  for 
its  purposes  and  the  institutions ;  and  now  that  its  grounds  are 
finished,  and  the  shrubbery  and  trees  begin  to  tell,  one  sees  about 
it^omething  that  is  not  unworthy  of  its  high  uses  and  origin. 
Those  grounds  which  so  long  lay  a  reproach  to  the  national 
taste  and  liberality,  are  now  fast  becoming  beautiful,  are  already 
exceedingly  pretty,  and  give  to  a  structure  that  is  destined  to 
become  historical,  having  already  associated  with  it  the  names 


JACK     TIER.  509 

of  Jefferson,  Madison,  Jackson,  and  Quincy  Adams,  together 
with  the  ci  polloi  of  the  later  Presidents,  an  entourage  that  is 
suitable  to  its  past  recollections  and  its  present  purposes.  They 
are  not  quite  on  a  level  with  the  parks  of  London,  it  is  true,  or 
even  with  the  Tuileries,  or  Luxembourg,  or  the  Boboli,  or  the 
Villa  Reale,  or  fifty  more  grounds  and  gardens,  of  a  similar  na- 
ture, that  might  be  mentioned;  but  seen  in  the  spring  and 
early  summer,  they  adorn  the  building  they  surround,  and  lend 
to  the  whole  neighborhood  a  character  of  high  civilization,  that 
no  other  place  in  America  can  show,  in  precisely  the  same  form 
or  to  the  same  extent. 

This  much  have  we  said  on  the  subject  of  the  White  House 
and  its  precincts,  because  we  took  occasion,  in  a  former  work, 
to  berate  the  narrow-minded  parsimony  which  left  the  grounds 
of  the  White  House  in  a  condition  that  was  discreditable  to 
the  republic.  How  far  our  philippic  may  have  hastened  the 
improvements  which  have  been  made,  is  more  than  we  shall 
pretend  to  say  ;  but  having  made  the  former  strictures,  we  are 
happy  to  have  an  occasion  to  say  (though  nearly  twenty  years 
have  intervened  between  the  expressions  of  the  two  opinions) 
that  they  are  no  longer  merited. 

And  here  we  will  add  another  word,  and  that  on  a  subject 
that  is  not  sufficiently  pressed  on  the  attention  of  a  people  who, 
by  position,  are  unavoidably  provincial.  We  invite  those  whose 
gorges  rise  at  any  stricture  on  any  thing  American,  and  who 
fancy  it  is  enough  to  belong  to  the  great  republic  to  be  great 
in  itself,  to  place  themselves  in  front  of  the  State  Department, 
as  it  now  stands,  and  to  examine  its  dimensions,  material,  and 
form  with  critical  eyes,  then  to  look  along  the  adjacent  Treasury 
Buildings,  to  fancy  them  completed,  by  a  junction  with  new 
edifices  of  a  similar  construction,  to  contain  the  Department 
of  State ;  next  to  fancy  similar  works  completed  for  the  two 
opposite  departments ;  after  which,  to  compare  the  past  and 
present  with  the  future  as  thus  finished,  and  remember  how 
receut  has  been  the  partial  improvement  which  even  now  exists. 


510  JACK     TIER. 

If  this  examination  and  comparison  do  not  show,  directly  to  the 
sense  of  sight,  how  much  there  was  and  is  to  criticise,  as  put 
in  contrast  with  other  countries,  we  shall  give  up  the  individuals 
in  question,  as  too  deeply  dyed  in  the  provincial  wool  ever  to 
be  whitened.  The  present  Trinity  Church,  New  York,  certainly 
not  more  than  a  third  class  European  church,  if  as  much,  com- 
pared with  its  village-like  predecessor,  may  supply  a  practical 
homily  of  the  same  degree  of  usefulness.  There  may  be  those 
among  us,  however,  who  fancy  it  patriotism  to  maintain  that 
the  old  Treasury  Buildings  were  quite  equal  to  the  new  ;  and 
of  these  intense  Americans  we  cry  their  mercy  ! 

Rose  felt  keenly  on  reaching  her  late  aunt's  very  neat  dwell- 
ing in  Fourteenth-street,  New  York.  But  the  manly  tenderness 
of  Mulford  was  a  great  support  to  her,  and  a  little  time  brought 
her  to  think  of  that  Aveak-minded,  but  well-meaning  and  affec- 
tionate relative,  with  gentle  regret,  rather  than  with  grief. 
Among  the  connections  of  her  young  husband,  she  found  several 
females  of  a  class  in  life  certainly  equal  to  her  own,  and  some- 
what superior  to  the  latter  in  education  and  habits.  As  for 
Harry,  he  very  gladly  passed  the  season  with  his  beautiful 
bride,  though  a  fine  ship  was  laid  down  for  him,  by  means  of 
Rose's  fortune,  now  much  increased  by  her  aunt's  death,  and 
he  was  absent  in  Europe  when  his  son  was  born ;  an  event  that 
occurred  only  two  months  since. 

The  Swash,  and  the  shipment  of  gunpowder,  were  thought 
of  no  more  in  the  good  town  of  Manhattan.  This  great  em- 
porium— we  beg  pardon,  this  great  commercial  emporium — has 
a  trick  of  forgetting,  condensing  all  interests  into  those  of  the 
present  moment.  It  is  much  addicted  to  believing  that  which 
never  had  an  existence,  and  of  overlooking  that  which  is  occur- 
ring directly  under  its  nose.  So  marked  is  this  tendency  to 
forgetfulness,  we  should  not  be  surprised  to  hear  some  of  the 
Manhattanese  pretend  that  our  legend  is  nothing  but  a  fiction, 
and  deny  the  existence  of  the  Molly,  Captain  Spike,  and  even  of 
Biddy  Noon.     But  we  know  them  too  well  to  mind  what  they 


JACK     TIER, 


511 


Bay,  and  shall  go  on  and  finish  our  narrative  in  our  own  way,  just 
as  if  there  were  no  such  raven-throated  commentators  at  all. 

Jack  Tier,  still  known  hy  that  name,  lives  in  the  family  of 
Captain  Mulford.  She  is  last  losing  the  tan  on  her  face  and 
hands,  and  every  day  is  improving  in  appearance.  She  now 
habitually  wears  her  proper  attire,  and  is  dropping  gradually 
into  the  feelings  and  habits  of  her  sex.  She  never  can  become 
what  she  once  was,  any  more  than  the  blackamoor  can  become 
white,  or  the  leopard  change  his  spots ;  but  she  is  no  longer 
revolting.  She  has  left  oft*  chewing  and  smoking,  having 
found  a  refuge  in  snuff".  Her  hair  is  permitted  to  grow,  and 
is  already  turned  up  with  a  comb,  though  constantly  concealed 
beneath  a  cap.  The  heart  of  Jack,  alone,  seems  unaltered. 
The  strange,  tiger-like  affection  that  she  bore  for  Spike,  during 
•  twenty  years  of  abandonment,  has  disappeared  in  regrets  for 
his  end.  It  is  succeeded  by  a  most  sincere  attachment  for 
Rose,  in  which  the  little  boy,  since  his  appearance  on  the  scene, 
is  becoming  a  large  participator.  This  child  Jack  is  beginning 
to  love  intensely ;  and  the  doubloons,  well  invested,  placing 
her  above  the  feeling  of  dependence,  she  is  likely  to  end  her 
life,  once  so  errant  and  disturbed,  in  tranquillity  and  a  homelike 
happiness. 


CHRISTIAN  REID'S  NOVELS. 


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"  The  plot  is  interesting  and  well  developed,  and  the  style  is  both  spirited  and 
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NINA'S  ATONEMENT,  and  Other  Stories.  With  Illustrations. 
8vo.     Paper,  price,  $1.00;  cloth,  $1.50. 

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of  the  season." — The  Golden  Age. 

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ally, on  a  par  with  the  writer's  previous  books." — A^.  Y.  Evening  Mail. 

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From  the  London  Examiner. 

"  TVe  will  not  say  that  Mr.  Julian  Hawthorne  has  received  a  double  portion  of  hii 
father's  spirit,  but  '  Bressant '  proves  that  he  has  inherited  the  distinctive  tone  and 
fibre  of  a  gift  which  was  altogether  exceptional,  and  moved  the  author  of  the  '  Scarlet 
Letter '  beyond  the  reach  of  imitators. 

"Bressant,  Sophie,  and  Cornelia,  appear  to  us  invested  with  a  sort  of  enchantment 
which  we  should  find  it  difficult  to  acesUnt  for  by  any  reference  to  any  special  passago 
in  their  story." 

From  the  London  Athenaum. 
"  Mr.  Hawthorne's  book  forms  a  remarkable  contrast,  in  point  of  power  and  interest, 
to  the  dreary  mass  of  so-called  romances  through  which  the  reviewer  works  his  way. 
It  is  not  our  purpose  to  forestall  the  reader,  by  any  detailed  account  of  the  story;  suf- 
fice it  to  say  that,  if  we  can  accept  the  preliminary  difficulty  of  the  problem,  its  solution, 
in  all  its  steps,  is  most  admirably  worked  out." 

From  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette. 
"So  far  as  a  man  may  be  judged  by  his  first  work,  Mr.  Julian  Hawthorne  is  en- 
dowed with  a  large  share  of  his  father's  peculiar  genius.  We  trace  in  'Bressant'  the 
same  intense  yearning  after  a  high  and  spiritual  life,  the  same  passionate  love  of  nature, 
the  same  subtlety  and  delicacy  of  remark,  and  also  a  little  of  the  same  tendency  to  in- 
dulge in  the  use  of  a  half-weird,  half-fantastic  imagery." 

From  the  New  York  Times. 
"'Bressant'  is,  then,  a  work  that  demonstrates  the  fitness  of  its  author  to  bearthe 
name  of  Hawthorne.  More  in  praise  need  not  be  said;  but,  if  the  promise  of  the  book 
shall  not  utterly  fade  and  vanish,  Julian  Hawthorne,  in  the  maturity  of  his  power,  will 
rank  side  by  side  with  him  who  has  hitherto  been  peerless,  but  whom  we  must  here- 
after call  the  '  Elder  Hawthorne.' " 

From  the  Boston  Post. 
"There  is  beauty  as  well  as  power  in  this  l  ovel,  the  two  so  pleasantly  blended,  that 
the  sudden  and  incomplete  conclusion,  although  ending  the  romance  with  an  abrupt- 
ness that  is  itself  artistic,  comes  only  too  soon  for  the  reader." 

From  the  Boston  Globe. 
"  It  is  by  far  the  most  original  novel  of  the  season  that  has  been  published  at  home 
or  abroad,  and  will  take  high  rank  among  the  best  American  novels  ever  written." 

From  the  Boston  Gazette. 
"There  is  a  strength  in  the  book  which  takes  it  in  a  marked  degree  out  of  the  range 
of  ordinary  works  of  fiction     It  is  substantially  an  original  story.    There  are  freshness 
and  vigor  in  every  part." 

From  the  Home  Journal. 
"'Bressant'  is  a  remarkable  romance,  full  of  those  subtle  touches  of  fancy,  and  that 
Insight  into  the  human  heart,  which  distinguish  genius  from  the  mere  clever  and  en- 
tertaining writers  of  whom  we  have  perhaps  too  many." 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  Publishers,  New  York. 


APPLETONS'   (so-caUed)  PLUM-PUDDING  EDITION 


WORKS  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 


Now   Complete, 
IN  18  TOLS.      TAPER  COVERS.      PRICE,  $5.00. 


(LIST  OF  THE  WORKS. 


Oliver  Twist 178  pp.  85  eta. 

American  Notes 104 

Dombey  and  Son 856 

Martin  Chuzzlewit. . ..8  11 
Uur  Mutual  Friend.... 840 

Christmas  Stories 168 

Tale  of  Two  Cities.... 144 
Uard  Times,  and    Ad- 

dltlonal  Christmas 

Stories 80S 

N leholas  >  KLIeby 088 


Any  person  ordering  the  entire  set,  and  remitting  $5,  will  receive  a  Por- 
trait of  Dickens,  suitable  for  framing.  The  entire  set  will  be  sent  by  mail  oi 
express,  at  our  option,  postage  or  freight  prepaid,  to  any  part  of  the  United 

States. 

Single  copies  of  any  of  the  above  sent  to  any  address  in  the  United  Statm 
m  the  receipt  of  the  price  affixed. 


15    ■ 

...848  " 

85 

85    " 

...886  " 

85 

85    " 

David  Copperfleld.. 

...851  " 

85 

85    " 

..857  " 

80 

85    " 

Old  Curiosity  Shop.. 

...881  " 

80 

80    " 

Great  Expectations. 

...188  " 

85 

...194  " 

85 

Uncommercial       Trav- 

85   " 

eller,  Pictures 

of 

85    " 

..800  " 

85 

LIBRARY    EDITION 

or 

CHABLES    DICKENS'S    WOKK& 

Complete  in  Six  Volumes, 

"With    Thirty-two    IlTustrations. 
?iit».  81.75  per  Vol.,  or  $10.50  tb.e  Set:  Half  calf,  $3.50  per  Vol 


^* 


'   '  ■ 


